Belle Isle Scott Fountain Fully Restored: A peek underneath!

**Zacha341** · June-07-15, 07:54 AM

Awesome story and restoration! See video and news with info on the inner workings of the fountain!

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/l...ntain/33350574

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/29...-on-belle-isle

**jcole** · June-07-15, 08:08 AM

Wow!! There's a mountain underneath?

**emu steve** · June-07-15, 08:40 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

Awesome story and restoration! See video and news with info on the inner workings of the fountain!

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/l...ntain/33350574

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/29...-on-belle-isle

I love it. Very impressive and DTE and Penske deserve credit for having that electrical engineer geting it done in a first class manner.

**Zacha341** · June-07-15, 08:43 AM

Hah. I fixed the typo from peak to 'peek'. There is a mountain of machinery below the fountain it can be argued though...

...!

Originally Posted by jcole

Wow!! There's a mountain underneath?

**DetroiterOnTheWestCoast** · June-07-15, 02:05 PM

Lucky Michiganders - you get to have water in your fountains.

**Ray1936** · June-07-15, 02:17 PM

Great story! To this day, I truly believe this is the kind of fountain Mrs. Horace Dodge had in mind when she bequeathed two million dollars to the City for the construction of a fountain in the civic center.......not that ugly aluminum donut that ended up there.

Go ahead, take your shots.

**Honky Tonk** · June-07-15, 04:45 PM

Nice work DTE. Glad it was finished in time for the Grand PriX. Now, about those streetlights and power outages that have been out and going on for 10 years....

**paulj313** · June-07-15, 09:31 PM

Merrill Fountain in Palmer Park next?

**Dan_the_man** · June-08-15, 11:40 AM

Let's not forget that Penske is also the reason all of the Pewabic tile that used to be in the bowl of the fountain was destroyed and ultimately removed.

**Zacha341** · June-08-15, 12:20 PM

Only if the theft/ scrapping of the associated piping can be ended. Belle Isle may be able to control the theft as it is no longer open 24 hours a day.

Originally Posted by paulj313

Merrill Fountain in Palmer Park next?

**EastsideAl** · June-09-15, 08:38 AM

I was going to say what Dan said. Penske's people now patting themselves on the back got off Scott-free on the rushed, terrible "repair" that amounted to vandalism to the fountain's basin. The Belle Isle Conservancy and the Pewabic folks are still raising money to try to replace those tiles with some reasonable facsimile of what was there. In my view, Penske should have paid for this effort 100%.

**archfan** · June-10-15, 01:22 AM

Scott-free - hah!

**kathy2trips** · June-15-15, 01:55 AM

There needs to be cameras around that fountain, monitored by the Park Police. So tired of vultures, rich and poor, making off with our treasures.

**Jimaz** · May-13-25, 07:41 AM

Take a tour of what lies underneath the Belle Isle fountain,
see why it's being renovated

The iconic fountain that sits on Detroit’s Belle Isle will close to the public Monday and remain closed until May 2027 to undergo some major renovations. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources gave 7 News Detroit a tour of what lies underneath the fountain.

I'd like to see a comparison with other fountains around the world.

**CassTechGrad** · May-13-25, 09:21 AM

Some of our “Native American” brothers may object to this derogatory image of an Indian chief, like a Cigar store Indian or the Washington “Redskins” mascot. The city may have to take that down or cover it up. Was the family of James Scott slave holders?

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Name: chief.jpg
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**expatriate** · May-13-25, 11:21 AM

Originally Posted by Ray1936

Great story! To this day, I truly believe this is the kind of fountain Mrs. Horace Dodge had in mind when she bequeathed two million dollars to the City for the construction of a fountain in the civic center.......not that ugly aluminum donut that ended up there.

Go ahead, take your shots.

You will get no argument from me.

**slick** · May-13-25, 11:24 AM

and here we go again! Did the Scott family leave a trusty for upkeep?

Belle Isle's Scott fountain to close until 2027 for $6M in renovations

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...s/83581901007/

**Jimaz** · May-13-25, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by slick

... Belle Isle's Scott fountain to close until 2027 for $6M in renovations

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/ne...s/83581901007/

... The renovations are being funded by federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, ARPA....

Oh. That ARPA. You'd think they could have at least come up with a unique four-letter acronym.

I read that as Advanced Research Project Agency and wondered what the hell they had to do with civic fountains! LOL!

**Meddle** · May-13-25, 03:15 PM

Why would it need $6M in work after only 10-15 years?

**stasu1213** · May-13-25, 05:08 PM

Wasn't this fountain renovated a few years back?
So its going to take two years possibly three just so the selected contractors could have an extra Christmas enjoy. What's next after this? the rebuilding of the Belle Isle bridge?

**Gistok** · May-13-25, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by stasu1213

Wasn't this fountain renovated a few years back?
So its going to take two years possibly three just so the selected contractors could have an extra Christmas enjoy. What's next after this? the rebuilding of the Belle Isle bridge?

The Belle Isle bridge had the entire deck rebuilt about 30 years ago... when the railings/lighting were restored, and the barriers put along the way to make sure no one drives off the bridge again.

**Gistok** · May-13-25, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by CassTechGrad

Some of our “Native American” brothers may object to this derogatory image of an Indian chief, like a Cigar store Indian or the Washington “Redskins” mascot. The city may have to take that down or cover it up. Was the family of James Scott slave holders?

Name: chief.jpg
Views: 269
Size: 77.1 KB

A depiction of a native American in and of itself is not derogatory. It is not a cartoonish image. It is dignified. Do you know the difference?

James Scott was a gambler and a scoundrel... not liked in his lifetime, which may be why the money he bequeathed to the city sat unused for 20+ years. I doubt his ancestry matters.

**Satiricalivory** · May-13-25, 09:14 PM

2027? Why is this going to take 2 whole years? Seems excessive.

**Satiricalivory** · May-13-25, 09:19 PM

Also could they please plant some trees in the green spaces around the fountain? Or would that get in the way of the mechanical underground?

**Bong-Man** · May-14-25, 12:09 PM

8 years between waterproofing isn't that excessive in our climate. Caulk just isn't that good. Water and electricity don't mix very well, and I imagine if the fountain was designed today, the electrical components would not be directly under the fountain as shown on the news. By the way, that 8 years between is about double the timeline of a Mound Road renovation/repaving. It's all perspective.