Goodale Park Fountain Presentation 2/24 7pm « Columbus Underground Messageboard

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Goodale Park Fountain Presentation 2/24 7pm

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Started 2 years ago by Walker
Latest reply from Pablo

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Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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Goodale Park Fountain Presentation
Wednesday, February 24th @ 7:00pm

The Short North Civic Association and the Friends of Goodale Park invite you to an open meeting this Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 7:00 pm at the Shelter House (in the center of Goodale Park) to review and comment on the proposed new design for the Goodale Fountain.

The new design reflects a total re-design by artist Malcolm Cochran and a community Steering Committee under the auspices of the FGP. Mr. Cochran will present the new design at the meeting and you are urged to attend to see the elements of this exciting proposal for a permanent fountain in Goodale Pond.

Posted 2 years ago #
howatzer

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would this replace the current one? I like the rocks.

Posted 2 years ago #
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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The proposed image is a bit...wedding cake-ish. But I'm happy to see Goodale constantly evolving.

Posted 2 years ago #
jeff_r

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Interesting. I wonder what happened to Cochran's original Tete-a-Tete Falls design.

It sure seemed like a done deal here:

http://www.dispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/10/29/20061029-G1-02.html

and here:

http://www.shortnorth.com/FountainArtist.html

Posted 2 years ago #
dru
IV
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jeff_r wrote >>
Interesting. I wonder what happened to Cochran's original Tete-a-Tete Falls design.

$

Posted 2 years ago #
kcrissinger
Brookshire
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Very interesting. Where is the money coming from for this project?

Posted 2 years ago #
dru
IV
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kcrissinger wrote >>
Very interesting. Where is the money coming from for this project?

Some initial grant money and then fund raising by Friends of Goodale Park. You can find more info on the original project, fundraising efforts and the decision to scale back the design in the minutes and annual reports on the FOGP website: http://friendsofgoodalepark.org/index.asp

Posted 2 years ago #
kcrissinger
Brookshire
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Dru,

Thanks for the information. I know the fountain at Westgate park is very old and often times doesn't function well. Maybe FoWP should have invested in a new fountain instead of a controversial mural that is being valdalized.

Posted 2 years ago #
Manatee
The eternal present
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To be honest, I'm not really grooving on the design. I don't think it's bad, per se, but the similarity between the design and the shape of the spraying water itself kind of bugs me. It's like two triangles pointing at each other. Which seems unrelaxing to look at.

It also seems a bit at odds with the lily pads which will eventually surround it.

I could go for a nice craggy limestone boulder with plants growing on it like it was a little island, but you know drunk people would be hanging off of it in a second ;)

Posted 2 years ago #
Talcott
Clintonville
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mrsgeedeck wrote >>
The proposed image is a bit...wedding cake-ish. But I'm happy to see Goodale constantly evolving.

I had the same thought when I saw the fountain. It's not bad, but it doesn't do much for me either. The clean lines and geometry feel a bit sterile. But then again, I always liked the jumbled pile of rocks (especially when covered in ice).

Posted 2 years ago #
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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Materials cost made the original design too expensive for us to build. We went back to the original artist, Malcolm Cochran, to design a more affordable alternative. His presentation on how he came to this design and why is very interesting, and I encourage folks to attend the meeting and learn more. I couldn't begin to do justice to it here.

For more in-depth details, you can also view the news item on the FGP website at (but, the presentation has much more information, and pictures from inspirations):

http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/news.asp?doc=fountain_2010.html

All of our board meeting minutes have been posted online for the past year. The direct link to where we post our monthly board minutes is:

http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/about.asp?doc=board_minutes.html

Hope to see some of you Wednesday.

Posted 2 years ago #
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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Manatee wrote >>

It also seems a bit at odds with the lily pads which will eventually surround it.

The lily pads won't go out to the fountain. This is on the other side of the pond's hip. The placement of the new fountain will roughly center it in the side where the current fountain resides.

Posted 2 years ago #
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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well this wedding cake looking thing is certainly in stark contrast to the lovely natural glacial stones and plants and other natural features that make up majority of the decoration of the cement pond. Maybe that's the point, I dunno.

Posted 2 years ago #
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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chrisgillespie wrote >>
Materials cost made the original design too expensive for us to build. We went back to the original artist, Malcolm Cochran, to design a more affordable alternative. His presentation on how he came to this design and why is very interesting, and I encourage folks to attend the meeting and learn more. I couldn't begin to do justice to it here.
For more in-depth details, you can also view the news item on the FGP website at (but, the presentation has much more information, and pictures from inspirations):
http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/news.asp?doc=fountain_2010.html
All of our board meeting minutes have been posted online for the past year. The direct link to where we post our monthly board minutes is:
http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/about.asp?doc=board_minutes.html
Hope to see some of you Wednesday.

Chris,

According to the minutes Malcolm explained the elephant design to the Board, may I inquire why there are elephants on top of the ~~cake~~ fountain. I do plan to attend Wednesday's meeting, but further clarification would be appreciated.

Posted 2 years ago #
Anne
King Lincoln
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I like the elephants (mostly because I just love elephants) but the rest of the design feels pretty 'in your face' to me.

Posted 2 years ago #
dru
IV
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mrsgeedeck wrote >>

chrisgillespie wrote >>
Materials cost made the original design too expensive for us to build. We went back to the original artist, Malcolm Cochran, to design a more affordable alternative. His presentation on how he came to this design and why is very interesting, and I encourage folks to attend the meeting and learn more. I couldn't begin to do justice to it here.
For more in-depth details, you can also view the news item on the FGP website at (but, the presentation has much more information, and pictures from inspirations):
http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/news.asp?doc=fountain_2010.html
All of our board meeting minutes have been posted online for the past year. The direct link to where we post our monthly board minutes is:
http://www.friendsofgoodalepark.org/about.asp?doc=board_minutes.html
Hope to see some of you Wednesday.

Chris,
According to the minutes Malcolm explained the elephant design to the Board, may I inquire why there are elephants on top of the ~~cake~~ fountain. I do plan to attend Wednesday's meeting, but further clarification would be appreciated.

Inside Chris' first link there is a paragraph about it:
"Cochran thought as well about the history of the most notable residence on the Park, the historic Sells "Circus House" at the corner of Dennison and Buttles. An exhibition last summer at the Columbus Historical Society made him aware that the Sells Brothers' Circus was renowned for its troupe of elephants. Perhaps elephants could find a way into the design. Research on historic fountains produced numerous images of fish, dolphins, turtles, snakes and other creatures spouting water. None of them, Cochran thought, naturally emit streams of water from their mouths, but elephants do shower and spray with their trunks. The elephants that will surmount Goodale Fountain are a nod both to the history of Columbus and to the convention of animals in public fountains. "

Posted 2 years ago #
mrsgeedeck
Castle of Lions
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dru wrote
Inside Chris' first link there is a paragraph about it:
"Cochran thought as well about the history of the most notable residence on the Park, the historic Sells "Circus House" at the corner of Dennison and Buttles. An exhibition last summer at the Columbus Historical Society made him aware that the Sells Brothers' Circus was renowned for its troupe of elephants. Perhaps elephants could find a way into the design. Research on historic fountains produced numerous images of fish, dolphins, turtles, snakes and other creatures spouting water. None of them, Cochran thought, naturally emit streams of water from their mouths, but elephants do shower and spray with their trunks. The elephants that will surmount Goodale Fountain are a nod both to the history of Columbus and to the convention of animals in public fountains. "

Thanks Dru!

Posted 2 years ago #
Manatee
The eternal present
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I didn't even see the elephants, but that is a cute idea :)

Like I said, it's not that the fountain design itself isn't lovely, it's just that a modernist-looking stack of grey stone seems a little at odds with the location. I've always thought of Goodale as having a fairly Victorian aesthetic-- gee wonder why? ;)

People will have strong opinions about it for sure. The lake is such a focal point for the park.

Posted 2 years ago #
DavidF
Elysium Fields
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I know a lot of thought went into this, but lets face it, it's a big wedding cake.

Maybe people will like it, maybe they won't. To me, it looks pretty silly.

Posted 2 years ago #
JedThorp
Merion Village
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Like others, I'm kind of "eeh" on the new fountain. If it better circulates the water, I think anything's an improvement. I'm curious though how/if they can keep the lillypads from reaching the fountain? Those things are out of control. I like them, and the lotuses, but how do you contain them? Part of me think you need to either have NO foliage in the pond, or all foliage in the pond. Just curious.

Posted 2 years ago #