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Fountain sprays again in Hill-McKnight

The fountain at Bay and Buckingham Streets, on the triangle terrace, is providing beautiful scenery once again. Reminder Publications photo by G. Michael Dobbs
By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



HILL-McKNIGHT The fountain at the triangle terrace at Bay and Buckingham Streets is once again providing both a pleasant sound and sight to the Hill-McKnight neighborhood, thanks to a new program to turn the city's fountains back on.

Mayor Charles Ryan was at the fountain along with neighborhood residents and members of the Hill-McKnight Neighborhood Council on Thursday to announce that the city will be restoring 10 fountains by August and cleaning up many of the terraces throughout the city.

Patrick Sullivan, director of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management, explained that budget cuts five or six years ago forced the city to close down the fountains and seek volunteers to maintain the terraces.

Although Sullivan praised the terrace adoption program, and added the city is still dependent upon it, Ryan's intention is to make the city responsible for the fountains and the properties.

By Aug. 1, the city will restore fountains at Kibbe Triangle, Marengo Park, Thompson Triangle, Dartmouth Street, Caseland and Cunningham Streets and Court Square.

The program to put the fountains back into operation will cost about $4,000. Sullivan explained that, at the time the program was cut, the city was spending between $200,000 and $250,000 on maintaining the fountains and the terraces.

He said the new effort would give city officials an idea of how much it will cost at this time to maintain the terraces.

The city will be assisted in its efforts to maintain the terraces from the Hampden County Sheriff's Department and Massachusetts Career Development Institute and Ben Swan Jr., president of the Hill-McKnight Neighborhood Council told Reminder Publications that the fountains in his neighborhood were part of a list of concerns submitted to the mayor in June. Swan added that the list of concerns included city-owned vacant lots as well and Ryan "began quickly responding to the list."

Ryan said, "It is so important to do something positive to these neighborhoods."