Capitol’s Veterans Memorial Fountain honoring as intended

<p>Submitted</p><p>The waters of the Missouri Veterans Memorial fountain flow in an undated photo taken after the fountain’s repair.</p>

Submitted

The waters of the Missouri Veterans Memorial fountain flow in an undated photo taken after the fountain’s repair.

With Memorial Day coming up, the fountain that’s part of the Missouri Veterans Memorial is, for the first time in a while, working as intended to honor the state’s veterans.

The Missouri Veterans Memorial and its fountain are on the northeast side of the Capitol, overlooking the Missouri River.

“This is the first time in my 20 years working at the state Capitol that the fountain has been working the way it was intended,” said Dana Rademan Miller, chief clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives and a member of the Missouri State Capitol Commission.

The jets of shooting water in the fountain “symbolize the turmoil of war,” Miller wrote in a tweet earlier this month. “A single arch of water shoots over these jets to symbolize peace,” she explained.

More specifically, “as the sequence starts, the water would be calm. Then the bubblers start, signifying turbulence between the people,” according to a description Miller provided from the architectural firm that proposed the original designs and has worked on the restoration.

“As the turbulence gets stronger, the red light came on emulating the blood spilled. The gun jets on each side of the fountain fire at each other and collide in the middle, as an active battle would occur. The solo jet at the end of the fountain and the white light overtake the battle below, indicating victory.”

The memorial was dedicated Nov. 11, 1991, Miller said. While not yet 30 years old, the fountain needed significant maintenance, including to fix “issues with the stone deterioration in the colonnades, pavers, as well as the fountain, which includes the water line and pump house. At one point, the fountain was completely inoperable due to deferred maintenance and a water line that had collapsed.”

“Last year, much of this work was completed, and this month, the fountain was reopened,” Miller said. “I believe that the sequencing is still in the testing phase, but as stated in my tweet, this is the first time in my 20 years working at the state Capitol that the fountain has been working the way it was intended.”

Office of Administration spokesman Chris Moreland said fixing the fountain and the systems that support it cost approximately $1.2 million.

“Besides restoring the fountain function, that cost also included all plumbings, controls, filters and electric in the mechanical pump room. It also included some stone cleaning and replacement to include the colonnades and their lights,” Moreland said.

“It is my hope that we are able to devote resources to maintain it now that it is beautiful again,” Miller said of the fountain.