The only water in the Meyer Circle Fountain is rain falling from the sky.
The iconic Kansas City fountain in the middle of Ward Parkway quit working last summer.
"The neighbors were like, 'Oh my goodness, what happened to our fountain?'" said Pat O'Neill, the president of the City of Fountains foundation.
A leak in the fountain's basin led to much bigger problems.
"That water was getting into the vault where all the mechanical and electrical systems are, and it basically flooded the vault one time too many," said Jocelyn Ball-Edson, a senior landscape architect with Kansas City Parks & Rec
The flooded vault burned up the motor. Now, the city likely needs a half million dollars to fix it.
"It's kind of like having a backyard swimming pool. There's always going to be maintenance. Everybody wants one. And they're beautiful," said O'Neill. "But they're difficult to maintain and they're expensive to maintain."
The city pays for regular maintenance but big repairs, like the ones at Meyer Circle, require private donations.
An anonymous donor already gave some of the money needed to fix Meyer Circle, but with several other KC fountains on, but also in need of repair, the city is looking for donors to keep them running.
If you want to help, click here.
"The city's logo, the city's slogan about being the City of Fountains has really given the city a sense of identity," said Ball-Edson. "A positive thing and a beautiful thing. It gives us a lot of joy and beauty out of them."
At Meyer Circle a team of consultants will soon decide exactly what repairs are needed, with hopes of getting the fountain flowing again by sometime next year.
"It'll be back," said O'Neill.
-----
Justin Wilfon can be reached at justin.wilfon@kshb.com.
