Downtown’s Scioto Mile fountain to reopen Friday
Downtown’s Scioto Mile fountain in Bicentennial Park is set to reopen at 11 a.m. Friday.
The popular 15,000-square-foot splash zone was named one of the 15 best fountains in the world by CNN in 2014 and draws thousands of visitors every year. It holds 110,000 gallons of water coming from an underground reservoir and shoots jets of water 75 feet into the air.
The fountain was closed due to COVID-19 restrictions in the summer of 2020 and for most of the summer of 2021, until reopening on Aug. 2.
Reopening Memorial Day weekend has been the plan for the city of Columbus, but the weather on Friday could make things even more wet. According to the National Weather Service, there’s a 90% chance of rain on Friday, with thunderstorms as well.
But the remainder of the holiday weekend looks warm and sunny.
In April, the Dispatch reported that the city still had no plan to pay for a major refurbishment that began in early 2021 before stopping the work.
The Dispatch reported in March 2021 that City Council had approved a contract for up to $189,000 to address significant water loss from a maze of leaking pipes beneath the fountain plaza. At least another $734,000 was needed to actually dig up the plaza to repair the leaks. The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, a private nonprofit group involved in public-private Downtown redevelopment projects, was asked to reimburse the city for the cost of the work, but the organization never agreed.
Regardless, the Scioto Mile fountain, which has been operating since July 2011, has become a fixture of the Scioto Mile. Once it opens, it will have daily operating hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Sept. 5.
Cameron Teague Robinson Cteaguerob@gannett.com; Twitter: @cj_teague