At time of visit, was undergoing another renovation. A plaque proclaimed it a Community Improvement Project - June 3, 1999. I would suspect that the climate is not easy on the piece.
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Other Titles: Hebe Fountain, Fountain with Boy and Swan Base, Boys with Shell Jets and Canova's Hebe.
Inscription: (At bottom of the main shaft, a plaque lists the mayor and city commissioners in office when the 1882 fountain was installed) unsigned
Description: A fountain with two graduated bowls. Hebe, the Greek goddess of Youth, tops the fountain. She holds a ewer from which water flows. On the top bowl, four cherubs shoot water from horns into the relfecting pool. The central shaft is decorated with 4 boys (2 sitting, 2 standing), 3 swans, and lily pads. The undersides of the bowls are decorated with vegetation motifs. The entire fountain is painted black. All water falls into a reflecting pool at the fountain's base. The reflecting pool is surrounded by a small brick parapet topped by a wrought iron fence.
Remarks: The fountain was purchased by City Trustees in 1881 for an estimated $2,500 to $3,000, as a replacement for a deteriorating limestone fountain erected in 1872 (IAS record 73261386). The replacement fountain was purchased from J.L. Mott, catalog entry no. 65 Fountain Boy with Swan Base. The figure of Hebe atop the fountain is a copy after Canova.
The fountain underwent restoration efforts in the mid-1970s, which included glass-bead peening. Newspaper accounts indicate that some parts (the statues and ornamental bowls) may have been recast at that time and other parts replicated by a Louisville foundry. The pedestal and fountain pools were modified. In 1987, the statue of Hebe crumbled and fell from its underpinnings and the fountain was vandalized. The Robinson Iron Company did extensive restoration and recasting of the fountain in 1987.
Nearby plaque reads: Hebe Fountain/Original Foundry/J.L. Mott Ironworks/New York, NY/1881 Restored by/Robinson Iron Corp./Alexander City, AL/1987 (followed by name of Mayor and Commissioners, and Beautification commission members and staff names).
IAS files contain related newsclippings from Park City Daily News (Bowling Green, KY), Dec. 19, 1974, pg. 1; Sept. 6, 1987, pg. 2B; and Sept. 18, 1988. IAS files also contain related excerpt from Jonthan Jeffrey's "A Stroll Around Fountain Square," Bowling Green, KY: Landmark Association, 1992, pg. 1-4. For related reading see Minutes of the Bowling Green City Commission, on file at Western Kentucky University, Kentucky Library, vertical files. Some of the metal fountain pieces not used in the restoration are in the collection of the Kentucky Museum at Western Kentucky University (Bowling Green, KY
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