Buckingham Fountain - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 41° 52.546 W 087° 37.140
16T E 448636 N 4636168
The Buckingham fountain, built in 1927, is a major landmark for the city of Chicago. Located in Grant Park, the fountain was a gift from Kate Buckingham in memory of her late brother, Clarence.
Waymark Code: WM1Y1V
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 07/30/2007
Views: 52
Kate Buckingham dedicated this beautiful fountain to the people of Chicago in 1927 in memory of her late brother, Clarence. At the time she also put $300,000 in trust to make sure that the fountain would be maintained over its lifetime.
According to the park district's Website, "Edward H. Bennett designed the fountain to represent Lake Michigan with four sea horses, built by Marcel Loyau, to symbolize the four states that touch the lake: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. Bennett attributed the design specifically to the influence of the Latona Basin in Louis XIV's gardens at Versailles."
The fountain can be seen in all its glory from April to mid October, depending on weather. It runs from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily and every hour on the hour for 20 minutes the fountain produces a major water display and the center jet shoots 150 feet into the air. At dusk the fountain's show is accompanied by lights and music.
The following facts are from the park district's website, which is linked to below:
- The water display is run by 3 pumps and has 134 jets
- The fountain's water capacity is 1.5 million gallons. Depending on wind conditions, major displays use approximately 14,100 gallons of water per minute conveyed through 134 jets. Water is re-circulated from the base pool after the basins are filled and not drawn from the outside except to replace losses from wind and evaporation.
- The bottom pool of the fountain is 280 feet in diameter, the lower basin is 103 feet, the middle basin is 60 feet and the upper basin is 24 feet. The lip of the upper basin is 25 feet above the water in the lower basin.
- The underground pump room is 35 feet long, 25 feet wide and 25 feet high
- The fountain contains 820 lights
- The fountain is constructed of Georgia pink marble
- The fountain has remained intact except for a brief theft of two carved fish heads from the fountain, weighing several pounds each. The fish heads were recovered when a salvage place was offered the pieces and the buyer thought they looked very familiar and reported them.
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