Cypress Park's "Dancing Fountain" left high and dry
By The Eastsider Aug 1, 2018 Updated Apr 8, 2019
Confluence Fountain pictured in 2011
Cypress Park — It's been more than seven years since officials gathered under the shadow of the 5 Freeway at Figueroa Street to dedicate an $800,000, computer-controlled "dancing fountain." But the fountain once described as the "iconic gateway to the Northeast community" has been fenced off and covered with sheets of plywood sheets for some time now. The fountain's owners say it's damaged and don't know when it will ever spring to life again.
The fountain was part of the first phase of Confluence Park, a new green space being created near the spot where the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco meet. The fountain — which was created by the same people who brought you the fountains at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas and the Americana at Brand in Glendale — shot columns of water into the air from a circular plaza near the Cypress Park Home Depot.
A few years after the fountain opened, construction began nearby on the new Riverside-Figueroa Bridge and a large traffic roundabout right next to the plaza. It was during that time that the fountain was damaged, says Dash Stolarz of the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority, which owns and manages the Confluence Park property.
Dash said her organization believes that a heavy-duty truck working on the nearby bridge project went past the barriers surrounding the plaza and "drove over the fountain, causing extensive, severe, and costly damage to the fountain and its operating system," said Stolarz in an email. "We pursued a claim with the City to no avail."
Now, the city is preparing to spend $800,000 to even out the area where the fountain's plaza meets the new roundabout. However, that money does not include fountain repairs, according to Stolarz and a spokeswoman for the city's Bureau of Engineering.
So, when will the fountain get fixed? Not anytime soon, apparently. Stolarz said the city will have to complete the latest construction project before the process of repairing the fountain can begin.
"At this time," said Stolarz, "we have no timetable, or any identified budget for repairing the system."
