Fountains of Wisdom

Except that for much of this summer, the pool has been drained and the fountains turned off. Two weekends ago, while thousands sweltered in Clinton Square at the Taste of Syracuse (including runners completing Paige’s Butterfly Run for the first time downtown), the fountains stood at parade rest, offering no relief as the temperature and humidity both climbed to 90. Later in the day Taste of Syracuse attendees watched the last few gallons of water evaporate into the mist.

All wet: The city’s unofficial policy of turning off the fountain at Clinton Square, endorsed by Parks Commissioner Pat Driscoll, can’t possibly help the reputation of downtown. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO

On June 14, the crowd at Juneteenth, the annual celebration of the announcement of slavery’s end, enjoyed music and crafts under somewhat cooler conditions. Again the brilliant pool was empty and the beautiful fountain that makes Clinton Square Clinton Square was shut down.{mospagebreak}

During the week between the two events, the pool and the fountain were both dry, leading some to wonder if there was a mechanical problem. Not the case, according to Pat Driscoll, commissioner of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Youth Programs. As it turns out, it is the policy of the city to turn the fountain off whenever a large event is scheduled for the square.

“Any time we have a major event the fountains are shut off to accommodate the people,” said Driscoll. “Any time we prepare for a large-scale festival, it is shut down to get it ready. Following the last event,” he said, referring to Taste of Syracuse, “it will take me days to clean it up.” 

One problem has to do with the size of the crowds and the fact that music is being played at both ends of the square. “When you have one or two stages going at the same time,” said Driscoll, “people need the room to get near the stage.” Another “partial” reason, he added, is to prevent people from playing in the inviting (to some) water. Before the Taste of Syracuse, he said, “Law enforcement suggested, taking into account the large number of people, that it be shut down. I agreed. I thought it was in everybody’s best interest. We do the best we can.” 

Taste of Syracuse organizer Pam Levine told The New Times that the Syracuse Police Department contacted her during the festival with the suggestion that the fountain be shut off and the pool drained. She agreed, in the interest of public safety. “You do have children around, and there is alcohol being served,” she said. “There is the aesthetic issue with the fountains, but you have to weigh that against public safety, and public safety has to come first.” 

Asked why police couldn’t simply make sure no one broke the rules and climbed in the fountain, Driscoll replied, “In the past the police have politely asked people to get out of the fountain. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.” 

At an event as large as the Taste of Syracuse, said Driscoll, an extra dozen to two dozen police officers typically patrol, yet he believes that, on such days, “It probably would have been impossible to keep the crowd out of there.” The cost of such additional police coverage, and other costs incurred by the city, comes from a fee of 12.5 percent on the sales of alcoholic beverages. This fee is assessed on all festivals involving beer and alcohol sales in the square.

While Sgt. Tom Connellan of the Syracuse Police Department offered to provide someone to speak on this topic, as of press time, no one had commented.{mospagebreak}

Joe Nicoletti was director of operations for the city when Clinton Square was reinvented. “In any great city—Rome, Venice, you name it—a great public space has a water feature,” he said. “In this case the reflecting pool also mirrors the canal: It reflects our history, and looks to the future.” Still, Nicoletti doesn’t want to second-guess anyone making the call today. “The pool was built so that you could drain it when you have a large event.”

To get some perspective on the problem of interlopers in reflecting pools, we contacted Sgt. Robert Lachance, public information officer for the U.S. Park Police in the National Capital Region. The reflecting pool at the National Mall, between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, is on his beat and he could not recall a single problem with waders in the fountain during his 10 years on the job.

“Most people use common sense,” he said. “If someone goes in we ask them to get out. The last time I remember seeing someone causing a problem in the reflecting pool was in Forrest Gump, when his girlfriend went in the pool while he was speaking at the demonstration. Lachance added that the National Park Service, to which the police belong, handles millions of people from all over the world who walk along the pool between the Washington, D.C., attractions. 

He said the Park Police takes a pre-emptive approach to keeping visitors out of the water. “When a new monument opens up here and it has a fountain, we get out there that first season and get the word out that people can’t wade in it. It’s really a public relations job.”

—Ed Griffin-Nolan