Contract to help bring Merrill Fountain back to life
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Merrill Fountain, photographed sometime around 1901-1906. Photo: Library of Congress; Detroit Publishing Co., Publisher
Work to restore the 124-year-old Merrill Fountain in Palmer Park is expected to start soon.
The big picture: The dry, long-languishing fountain surrounded by sprouting weeds received $2.5 million in Detroit's budget last April for improvements.
The latest: The City Council approved a $421,000 contract last week for Detroit-based Giffels-Webster to begin architecture and engineering services to renovate the structure.
- This marks the conclusion of an at least decade-old effort by the People for Palmer Park to get funding to fix the fountain with crumbling marble and stolen pieces.
Flashback: The white marble fountain — designed by the New York architects who created the New York Public Library — was originally placed in the Campus Martius area downtown, in front of the opera house, where it was dedicated in 1901, according to Historic Detroit.
- It was moved to Palmer Park to help with traffic flow and because it was considered a nuisance, per the local history site.