KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Many Kansas City fountains need repairs to the tune of around a half million dollars. Some were working so poorly, they had to be turned off.
On Friday, a donor gave more than $133,000 to “The Wish Upon a Fountain Campaign” in order to fix the city’s fountains.
Kansas City has been called “The City of Fountains. While they may look beautiful, underneath they have troubles.
City of Fountains Foundation board member Pat O’Neill says eight of the 48 city-maintained fountains need $2.6 million in critical repairs.
“Fountains are kind of like self destructive. They run all the time and then they sit outside during the winter and they thaw and they freeze. And so there’s some serious needs for our fountains,” he told FOX 4 News.
On Saturday, the foundation held its first splash mob. It’s a way to raise awareness and support for the city’s “With Upon a Fountain” campaign that launched last month.
“Throughout the summer probably for the next eight Saturdays, we’re going to be at different fountains around Kansas City letting them know, ‘Hey this is what’s going on at these fountains.” said ArtsTech’s David Sullivan.
O’Neill says the partks and recreation department does a good job maintaining the landmarks, but has limited resources. He says it’s up to residents — the people that enjoy the fountains to help save them.
“People come from out of town. We brag about our fountains and our barbeque right? And so this is just a kind of a pride factor,” he said.
For more information about the “Wish Upon a Fountain” campaign, go to
http://kcparks.org/about-fountains/wish-upon-a-fountain/
