An improvement project several years in the making is about finished at the Whirlpool Compass Fountain in St. Joseph.
City Public Works Director Greg Grothous tells us the project goes back as far as eight years, when a park master plan identified some needs for the fountain.
“Some of the things that we heard loud and clear were restrooms, changing, shade,” Grothous said. “Those were the loudest things that we heard and our takeaway from that.”
Work to secure grants and make those improvements happen began in earnest about three years ago, and after multiple delays and cost increases, Grothous says he’s hoping the new restrooms can be opened this weekend. They’re family-style restrooms, meaning unisex, and Grothous says some other new additions can be seen at the fountain.
“We have shade structures around the pad, so there’s four shade structures, and then we also have a shade structure up by the building as well for some additional shade up by the restroom building. We also included some foot wash stations out on the west side of the fountain.”
Grothous says the city really hopes people use the foot washing stations because sand getting into the fountain’s filtration system is a big maintenance issue.
The project’s total cost was about $700,000, with $345,000 of it from a grant and a $100,000 anonymous donation.
Grothous notes they did have to scale back some of the initial plans because of COVID-related cost increases, but he says the city is pretty satisfied with what’s been accomplished to make the fountain a more comfortable place for families.
