By Adam Zaremski
The water’s off and it’s staying off, for awhile.
The Butler Ice Fountain, situated outside the Butler Library of Buffalo State College, has been shut down for almost two years and will remain that way until repairs can be made in summer 2006, said Stan Medinac, associate vice president of Facilities Planning and Institutional Studies.
“It’s broken and in desperate need of repair,” Medinac said. “A few of the arms are bent from kids climbing on it, the pipes are leaking or not working and general wear and tear over the years has left it this way.”
Plans to fix the fountain will be included with the future designs of remodeling the area between Campbell Student Union and the library under the State University Construction Fund, Medinac said. He said the actual cost of the entire reconstruction is not known yet, but an estimate for the fountain could be around $100,000.
The State University Construction Fund is a public benefit corporation that provides planning, architectural and engineering design, construction and facilities services for the State University of New York schools.
The fountain has had structural problems in the past. An old memo in the archives section of the library lists concerns about the pipes leaking since the sculpture was erected in 1983. A 1985 issue of the Record reported this happened in the winter and flooded the library.
Designer Carl Nesjar, a Norwegian artist, created the art work as an all seasons fountain, with winter providing the best visual. The ice and snow build up could constantly change, depending on the weather of the day, according to the fountains Web site.
“It does look great, especially in the winter,” Albert Riess, BSC reference librarian, said. “But when the wind starts blowing the water onto the ground and freezes, it can get dangerous.”
The fountain is named after Edward H. Butler, founder of the Buffalo Evening News and president of BSC from 1902 to 1914. The fountain cost $130,000 and was a gift from Butler’s granddaughter, Kate Butler Wallis, and the Butler Foundation, according to an Aug. 17, 1983 BSC press release.
Adam Zaremski can be reached at sligum13@netscape.net
|
|
The Butler Ice Fountain in its winter glory when it was in operation.
Photo courtesy of Butler Library Web site
|
