Gore Park fountain coming down Sunday

Gore Park’s fountain is flying south for the winter

The iconic downtown fountain will be disassembled this Sunday and sent to Ohio for restoration. It will return to Hamilton in the spring “as soon as weather allows” and will be re-assembled in the park, city officials said today.
 
Though the city says the fountain is in generally good condition, the foundry coating is faulty and some of the cast iron has corroded. Painting over the fountain without dismantling it wouldn’t fix the problem, the city says, and leaving it untreated could eventually compromise its strength.
 
The fountain is a replica of the original 1859 fountain that was taken down for safety reasons in the 1950s, though the upper bowl and finial are original. The replica was unveiled in 1996 as part of Hamilton’s sesquicentennial celebrations.