Friendship Fountain Restoration Project To Break Ground

[Dapperdan]

The renovations at Friendship Fountain are remarkable!!! What a GEM for the city!!! I'm so excited that Jacksonville is finally getting in the game of making everything more aesthetically pleasing. My only concern (and I hate to be negative) is how long the fountain lasts at this gorgeous state...I'm thinking about the Main Street Bridge here where it doesn't fully light anymore and the LED doesn't work any more...I would hope that with the amount of money invested in this project, the city keeps up with it!

Wait, the blue lights on the main street bridge is LED-based?

-Josh

No, there are, or were, long LED strips placed at the top of both towers on the main street bridge just before Superbowl. They looked fantastic as they could change colors and make moving pictures such as an illusion of a flag, etc. i think Tri Vu had something to do with it.
 Last I heard, the LED lights got damp and went dark and no one has fixed them. Typical Jacksonville when something breaks, it never gets fixed. How long has the founatin been in disrepair before they fixed it up? Yet, there are LED lights completely submerged in a fountain now, go figure.

[Dapperdan]

Bob,
 What will the foutain be like during normal weekdays and weekends? Are we only treated to the light show during special events?

[Bob_Johnson]

My only concern (and I hate to be negative) is how long the fountain lasts at this gorgeous state...I'm thinking about the Main Street Bridge here where it doesn't fully light anymore and the LED doesn't work any more...I would hope that with the amount of money invested in this project, the city keeps up with it!

That would be one of the things I hope that JaxFountain.com and these Forums can help with, if someone notices an issue bring it to as many peoples attention as possible...   There is no question that the Squeaky wheel usually gets the grease   That is what started JaxFountain.com to start with, making noise 

Bob,
 What will the fountain be like during normal weekdays and weekends? Are we only treated to the light show during special events?

I do not know but I would think that most likely the Fountain would be on Static display most of the time, hopefully with some changing of the lights and colors but that will be a City deal with whoever is responsible for managing it, which I am planning on asking about this week.

I can tell you that Mayor Peyton appeared very impressed last night with the Fountain, park and lighting and we will have to see how much the new Administration invests in actually using the Fountain and what they will do for normal non event times...

I actually spent some time today trying to locate an email address to contact Mayor Elect Brown with no luck...

-Bob
JaxFountain.com

[Fallen Buckeye]

Personally, I'm little concerned with how loud the music will be on a normal night. I'm having a wedding reception on the roof of MOSH next month and I think the fountain will be wonderful for ambiance, but I don't want our music competing with the fountain music either. I have been anxiously watching how this project has unfolded, and I'm definitely pleased over all.

[Bob_Johnson]

WJXT, TV4 ran a video report on the Fountain yesterday and in that report indicated that after Reopening on the 18th the Patriotic Program would be run nightly from 8:30 PM ET to 10:00 PM ET, I have sent an inquiry to check on that.
http://www.news4jax.com/video/28202024/index.html

Print Story isn't nearly as detailed...
http://www.news4jax.com/news/28200584/detail.html

-Bob
JaxFountain.com

[David]

The fountain was looking sharp last night. I haven't seen the pumps shoot water that high in quite a long time. Sounds like they were testing out an audio system because I kept hearing snipits of "snow flakes falling on my window" being played over the loud speaker. Pretty fitting for the falling ash we've had this past week!

[Bob_Johnson]

I kept hearing snipits of "snow flakes falling on my window" being played over the loud speaker. Pretty fitting for the falling ash we've had this past week!

Probably the programmer working on the Christmas program which hadn't been completed, at least as of last week.

Just two more days and the grand reopening...  Can't wait

-Bob
JaxFountain.com

[Dapperdan]

Park is open today. I went over and had some lunch in the shade.

[Bob_Johnson]

Yep all the construction fencing has been removed and around 11 AM ET they were running the Christmas Program.

A view of the Southbank Riverwalk along the Fountain Park:


Lots of folks taking care of last minute items, some last minute pressure washing, a group going over the Fountain Pump Panels in the Pump House, some last minute landscaping but everything looks good for the grand reopening this Saturday, Jun 18, 2011 at 9:00 AM

Look at all that green...




Hope to get to meet many of you this Saturday.

-Bob
JaxFountain.com

[duvaldude08]

I seen that. Im going to walk over on my lunch break in a few minutes and take a tour.

[iMarvin]

WOW! This city loves those bricks The park and fountain look so good! I don't think I'll be able to go to the grand reopening, but I'll be down there as soon as possible! 

[duvaldude08]

I took walk over on my break it is beautiful. I have been to the fountain many times. And today I had an overwhelming feeling. (I know thats sounds corny but its so true.) It actually feels like a park now and the fountain looks amazing. Im going to spending alot of time there.

[Luveenyah]

I randomly took a drive over there and stopped to watch them test out synced xmas music.  Park looks great, fountain breathtaking...I'm so excited for this project.  Crazy to see how far it's come along!

[Tacachale]

Awesome, awesome pictures. Fantastic work by everyone involved, Bob. I'm really hoping to get out there for Saturday morning.

[JeffreyS]

I am RSVPing for tomorrow and bringing my five year old son to a remastered Jacksonville landmark.