Fountain returning to Hot Springs after decades away

It’s one of 125 an animal lover placed throughout U.S. over 100 years ago

HOT SPRINGS — After several decades of being away, an important piece of Hot Springs’ history has finally made it home.

Between 1906-12, the National Humane Alliance, founded by Hermon Lee Ensign, placed an estimated 125 animal watering fountains on city streets throughout the United States in Ensign’s honor. One of them was in Hot Springs.

Ensign was a wealthy advertising executive who loved animals. In 1897, he published a series of illustrated stories focused on educating people to be gentle and considerate of animals, and of each other.

About 5 ½ feet tall, the solid granite fountain was cut and polished by the Bodwell Granite Co. in Maine and weighs an estimated 6 tons. The fountain features bronze lions’ heads on three sides that deliver water out of the lions’ mouths and into a large trough for horses to drink from. The fourth side features a dedication plaque.

Underneath the large bowl are four ground-level bowls for smaller animals, such as dogs and cats, so that they, too, could enjoy a

refreshing drink of water.

The fountain served travelers and their faithful companions in Hot Springs until the 1920s.

“The whole purpose of the fountain was kindness, and it is coming home,” said Jean Wallace, Hot Springs Parks and Trails director. “Hot Springs, a long time ago, had it and put it in storage when automobiles started really ruling the roads and the horses weren’t as active anymore as far as transportation went. It ended up in private ownership for many, many years and came back to the public and to the city of Hot Springs just very recently.”

In the late 1970s, the fountain was acquired by Thomas E. and Ida Lee Reed, staying in their family for decades. Their grandson, Greg Reed, contacted the late City Manager David Watkins in 2014 to see if there was interest in reclaiming it.

Discovering the fountain was well preserved, Wallace proposed it be incorporated back into the city.

“The location, where it’s going to be placed, is very, very near exactly where it stood over a hundred years ago,” she said.

The fountain stood at the intersection of what was then Malvern Avenue and Valley Street.

When developers began constructing the new downtown Regions Bank building at the corner of Broadway and Malvern, Wallace and her crew began researching the fountain

When developers began constructing the new downtown Regions Bank building at the corner of Broadway and Malvern, Wallace and her crew began researching the fountain and discovered it sat near the front of the bank building, a spot that is still owned by the city.

and discovered it sat near the front of the bank building, a spot that is still owned by the city.

“I spoke with the builder and the developer and the bank president and they all thought it was a really great idea, so Regions Bank helped with the plaza construction, but the fountain and all of our landscaping and the interpretive sign and everything will be on city property,” Wallace added.

Regions Bank contributed more than 50 percent of the cost of the plaza, Wallace said, and has requested that it be named Regions Plaza.

“We have a policy, and by contributing at least 50 percent of the cost of the development of a public facility, they do have the right to request that it be named after them, so they have an application in and there will be a public hearing and it’ll go before the city board on April 5 — two days before the dedication — so, hopefully, we’ll be dedicating the fountain at Regions Plaza,” she said.

Tapped into city water, the fountain will be a fully functional city display. Dedication of the fountain is scheduled for April 7.