
It's always both a pleasure and a challenge when working on historic sites. That was certainly the case with the fountain at Hurt Park in Atlanta.
The vintage fountain and surrounding park, which are located adjacent to the Georgia State University campus, were badly in need of a complete renovation.
Fortunately, the city and university were committed to recreating this beautiful urban space and recapturing the fountain's original magic. Those of at Fountain People were proud to work on a great project team that carefully undertook the effort using modern technology and construction methods to express the original design intent.
The project may not have been a complex as others we take on, but it was nonetheless a great example of harmonizing the past with the needs of today and the future.
The fountain was built in 1945 and has served as popular gathering spot in the heart of the city ever since. But over the past 10 years it had fallen into disrepair. Not only did the fountain mechanics no longer function, but the plantings around the fountain were filled with litter and the park was an eye sore that no longer attracted visitors.
It was a and relic of the past and one not befitting the high-profile locations.
Because of its location, both the city of Atlanta and the University had an interest in bringing the fountain back to its former glory. The landscape architecture firm of HOOR worked closely with Georgia State University and our company to both restore the water feature structure, redesign its perimeter and replace the mechanical and electrical equipment in order to get the fountain back in working order.
Renovations of this type are difficult because you must work with existing plumbing penetrations and often compromised structures, but fortunately that is where our company excels. It takes a bit of homework to remain true to original design intent, while bringing the systems up to current standards.
Main challenge with this renovation was to determine a piping and conduit plan that would utilize the existing structural penetrations, while maximizing flow rates, and then building the new spray rings & fountain jets to line up with the existing structure. It definitely took some coordination and multiple trips to the fountain as the nodes and sprayers were being created.
Credit: https://watershapes.com/hurt-park/
Keywords
fountain jets
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modern technology
fountain mechanics
great project team
existing structure
electrical equipment
construction methods
beautiful urban space
original design intent
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water feature structure
landscape architecture firm
Georgia State University campus
existing structural penetrations