Despite the recent warm and sunny weather, a Pittsburgh summer staple will be making a later appearance than usual this year.
The Point State Park fountain’s main center spray, which can push water up to 120 feet, is currently under repair due to spring’s excessive, lingering flood season. Jeff Anna, an assistant manager for Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said crews tried to ready the pipes a few weeks ago. A process that normally takes about 10 to 15 minutes took nearly an hour. That’s when the seven-person crew realized there was a problem.
“The issues we are having right now are with the pumps, which push that center spray up through,” Mr. Anna said. “Earlier this spring while operating the center column, we noticed that the pumps were harder to get primed.”
The iconic fountain has about a million gallons of water that recirculates through a series of eight separate pumps working together to keep the water flowing. The three center pumps that push the stream of water to its peak are in the process of being repaired.
“We decided to not operate the pumps because they were not operating as specified and they were taking too long,” Mr. Anna said. “We didn’t want to damage anything in those pumps, like the motor. At that point we knew we were having problems and contacted one of the vendors we use to help us do the pump repairs, the manufacturer of the pumps and the manufacturer representative to provide the parts.”
Currently, the two pumps used for the waterfall feature and two used for the “peacock band sprays” are fully operational. Mr. Anna doesn’t have a set date for when crowds can expect the main fountain to be back in operation.
“Working with the pump suppliers, a lot of that is going to be dependent on the parts that are needed to be shipped to us,” Mr. Anna said. “Then there’s some shop time to get everything put into place and then some time for us to take the rebuilt pump and place it into the fountain.”
A contractor was on site last week to have one of the pumps worked on and torn down to identify all the parts needed.
“The flooding certainly set us back three weeks from normal time of when we would have been able to do testing on the fountain,” Mr. Anna said. “Our maintenance learned a lot through the process of the flooding. We are making operational adjustments to create and keep the efficiency we learned throughout the process.”
This was the first time the crew had to deal with major flooding since park renovations were completed in 2013. The staff consists of a park manager, park maintenance supervisor, two maintenance repairmen and three laborers, though there are currently vacancies for the supervisor and a repairman.
Maintenance on the fountain occurs daily during operational months, Mr. Anna said.
“The amount of water pumping through there on a daily basis and the amount of inner-workings is pretty amazing,” Mr. Anna said.
The fountain has been bringing visitors to the confluence since 1974.
Nick Robinson, 28, and Christina Banks, 26, both from Burgettstown, came into the city for the day and made sure the park was on their list of places to visit.
“I don’t come by as much as I used to,” Mr. Robinson said. “But I was shocked to see [the main fountain] down.”
“It’s still pretty though,” Ms. Banks added.
For Holly Borz, 22, and Mandy Forsyth, 23, both from the South Hills, the fountain is one of their main stops when they come to Downtown. They were visiting the area with friends for the Three Rivers Arts Festival and thought the main fountain was shut off due to the windy weather.
“I’ve been here over 20 times probably, just to relax and hang out,” Ms. Borz said. “It’s definitely one of my top spots.”
“Even though you’re not supposed to, my brother and I would play in it as kids,” Ms. Forsyth said. “It’s one of those places where you think ‘Downtown,’ you think ‘The Point.’”
Carley Bonk: cbonk@post-gazette.com and Twitter @carls_marie.
First Published: June 5, 2018, 5:59 p.m.
