Warren's historic fountain and new bird statue unveiled
Originally built in the early 1890's, the fountain in Courthouse Square has been a staple of downtown Warren.
"The fountain truly has been received very well here in Warren," said Andy Bednar, former Warren Rotary Club President. "Many of us who have lived here and I was born here back in 1960, remember the fountain as a child, coming to Courthouse Square and benefitting the from all the amenities that were here back then and still are here."
Over the years though, the fountain fell into disrepair. If it wasn't for a conversation between Mayor Doug Franklin and Andy Bednar, President of the Rotary Club, in 2017, the fountain may still be turned off.
"The mayor suggested that this would be a wonderful opportunity for us to do something visible to enhance the quality of life here in the city of Warren and given the opportunity, we jumped at the chance," Bednar said.
"At the time we had the conversation with the rotary, there was no financial wherewithal to even start thinking about the project so that initial conversation pretty much catapulted the whole project and began me talking with other donors, particularly our city auditor and city council about how we can get this done," Warren Mayor Doug Franklin said.
In commemoration of its 100th Anniversary and along with the Bland family, $50,000 was donated to kickstart the project and not only is the water flowing again, but the historic swan has returned.
"To restore that bird truly, and the fountain, truly brings back wonderful memories for all of us and provides for the future here in our city," Bednar said.
"There is a long history with this fountain in our community and how many memories it's created for families and citizens so we wanted to restore that sense of momentum, that sense of community to this public space and the refurbishment of this fountain," Franklin said. "We are already seeing the benefits and how young people, older people are coming by and reading. Young people are taking graduation pictures, wedding pictures and they are using this as a public spot for a lot of family occasions so that in and of itself is worth it."
The total project cost was around $230,000 and Mayor Franklin says it was important to spend that money on a quality of life piece for the city.
"This is a public park," Franklin said. "Courthouse square is a public park and parks are a critical piece to any successful cities urban infrastructure. Taking that into account, we knew this project was special, we knew that it was important, it can be shared and enjoyed by all, every segment of our community regardless of your age and people are showing they appreciate it already."
Franklin says they still have a lot of plans and it is an exciting time to be mayor and in Warren and he believes they can build on this momentum for the future.
