Happy 20th Anniversary, Falls Fountain!

20 years ago this week, those in the lead of the never-ending attempt to revitalize downtown Louisville came up with a brilliant idea: stick an ugly, poorly designed fountain in the middle of the mile-wide Ohio and watch the tourists flock! These are the same people who thought up the not-at-all thought-out LOUISVILLE sign (scrapped before starting) and the Galleria. I have a sneaking suspicion that they are also the same people who allowed the Galt House to be built and then painted bright orange. Unfortunately, at that time, the riverfront had no green space to speak of (scrap yards = rusty eyesore) and people really had no way to see the fountain unless they were crossing the 2nd street bridge.
I, however, loved the darned thing. When it was actually working, the fountain had a fleur-de-lis pattern to it, which was especially cool at night with the multi-colored lights. It also made Louisville's very small downtown skyline a lot prettier. I still remember my parents taking me and my sisters to the Indiana side just to watch the fountain work (you couldn't stand anywhere on the KY side without getting tetanus or run over on I-64). I was one of the few sad to see it go in 1998 (but really, the base of the thing looked like a a rusty can of spam, or as this very entertaining article describes it "the heavy-metal lovechild of R2-D2 and a lawn sprinkler"). I also think that a lot of Louisvillians have blocked the thing out of their minds, as I had a heck of a time finding any pictures of it (no digital cameras way back then = no easily found internet pics).
Now that real change is going on in downtown Louisville, I would love to see the fountain resurrected, maybe placed just beside waterfront park. What a view from Slugger Field or the Great Lawn! I hear that the old fountain is sitting in a scrap yard, waiting for its chance to come back, much like Elvis in 1968. Bring on the sequins!