Fountain Follow-up

It was a week ago yesterday that the crew from Steveson Company hauled the big fountain from the middle of Broadway Park up to the shop for some much needed repair and renovation. Asking Village Administrator Jim Saracco the other day if he has heard anything he said "you should go up and check it out. It's beautiful."

So, between the meetings yesterday, that's exactly what I did. Those guys at Steveco are as proud as new daddies hovering around showing off their latest project. Although I didn't get a cigar those "daddies" included the guys that work there and the owners. When I walked in the place I didn't see the fountain and Denny Wright asked if he could help me. When I told him Jim sent me up to check out the fountain his eyes lit up and he took me right to it.

Shown here is what it looks like right now. What's left of that decorative braiding around the stem is made of brass. It really looks pretty now that all the paint has been removed. Those talented guys are using what is left to make molds to replace the missing parts with a polyurethane braiding. Once the molds are made they are putting the original pieces back on and will complete the trim with the newly made plastic parts. When they repaint it you won't be able to tell what's brass and what's plastic. That's Jason Keyes you see part of behind the stem. They were able to take the tilt out of it and straighten it up.

The fountain has been completely sand blasted down to the bare metal and now sits on its new stainless steel base. They discovered the bowl was just sitting on the pedestal. It had been welded before but those past repair jobs were all cracked. There were some gaping holes around the bottom of the bowl that will be welded and those connections will be filled in with more polyurethane to smooth it out back to the original design. The details on the fountain will really stand out once they complete the renovation. They are even adding a decorative touch of their own design around the bottom of the stem where it sits on the base.

There's still some work to be done but I can see why these guys are proud of what they are doing. They do top notch work. When it's done you'll think it's brand new. Wellsville Historical Society President Brassy Beresford confirmed last night that particular fountain is one of the originals. The have antique post cards at the museum with that fountain pictured on one of them. With the help from the fellows at Steveco that fountain will be around long after I'm gone.

ole nib