WILMINGTON — A controversial, historic fountain that has borne the brunt of numerous vehicular accidents, pranks and vandalization will be repaired again once the City of Wilmington appropriates money for its upkeep.
READ MORE: Local group wants to move downtown Wilmington’s Kenan Fountain to Renaissance Park
Kenan Fountain at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Market Street has not been operational for the last year-and-a-half. It ceased functioning after a contract worker for the North Carolina Department of Transportation hit the bowl during a repaving and resurfacing project.
According to Dave Mayes, the city’s public works director and former stormwater services manager, staff is recommending the city council allocate funds to correct it at next month’s council meeting.
Mayes was before the council at its agenda review meeting on Monday noting overall costs came under estimated bid pricing by roughly $143,000 since March, bringing totals to around $644,000. This includes fountain repairs and restoration, plumbing replacement, bench repairs, and east and west baluster corrections.
Yet, city staff is suggesting council cover the NCDOT accident repairs first, which amounts to $285,500; the engineer’s estimate was $60,000 less. NCDOT’s insurance claim is covering $98,560.
Made of carved limestone from an Indiana quarry, the 14-foot fountain was a gift to the city in 1921, as donated by the Kenan family. The fountain was dedicated to William R. Kenan Sr. and his wife, Mary Hargrave Kenan, by their son William R. Kenan Jr.
Kenan Sr. was a Civil War veteran who also lived in Wilmington, worked as a life insurance salesman and served as a trustee of the University of North Carolina in 1903. The family patriarch also was one of the white supremacists who commanded a group of insurgents during the Wilmington 1898 Coup and Massacre that killed many Black residents, while forcing others out of town. He is reported to have used a mounted machine gun that killed around 25 Black residents during the coup.
The fountain’s dark history has been at the forefront of vandalization in recent years, particularly in 2020 at the height of Black Lives Matter protests in the city, following George Floyd’s murder. It’s installed at the intersection of Fifth Avenue, a city-maintained street, and Market Street, NCDOT-maintained, known for tight turns as traffic curves around it and has been advocated against before due to creating safety hazards. Numerous vehicle accidents have taken place since its installation and in 1953 the State Highway Commission asked for its removal but the city council voted only to reduce its footprint.
It became illuminated in 2013 to help further reduce traffic risks.
Yet, in the last two decades alone, there have been almost two dozen incidents at the fountain, not to mention it has become a hotspot as well for pranksters. Soaps are often thrown into the fountain to create bubbles in its cascading water. Though Mayes said the suds are fixed within a few days, the aftereffects on the limestone aren’t necessarily good.
The fountain’s plumbing, easy access manifold, and isolation valves need to be corrected currently and will run $68,750, Mayes indicated.
In addition to repairing the fountain and its plumbing, its stones, mortar joints, and ornate features need to be remediated. That price tag is higher for restoration at $310,000 — three times more than the anticipated bid. Though Mayes was clear staff wasn’t suggesting council move forward with this phase currently.
As well, there is a bench near the fountain, which also has been hit by a vehicle, and will be $48,630 to repair (the claim is pending for driver’s insurance carrier). Two balusters on both the east and west need $160,000 in repairs cumulatively and were also hit by drivers but the motorists sped away, so there is no claim pending to help shoulder those costs.
“They get hit the most, they get damaged the most,” Mayes told council back in March. “As you can see, they’re not inexpensive to replace.”
Rivenbark asked Mayes on Monday if changes are planned around the fountain with the Fifth Avenue Restoration project underway; it’s to be completed by January 2026.
“Ya know that old saying?” Rivenbark queried. “You keep doing the same thing over and over, and to expect different results is insanity. That kind of applies here, somewhat. In 1953, they should have told NCDOT to go pound sand and cut that down to one lane on each side.”
Mayes said the outside lanes going north and south on Fifth Avenue will become turn lanes only with the through lanes traveling on the inside.
He suggested in-house staff remove the balusters and bench — with no out-of-pocket expenses incurred — for potential relocation and council only move forward to repair the fountain, with the goal to assess its relocation as well in the future. Mayes said staff planned to prepare it for the capital improvement plan request for fiscal year 2029-2034.
He added an inspection of the fountain was scheduled Monday at 10 a.m. with the city insurance carrier and contractor to go over the $285,000 bid. If council agreed to funding repairs to the fountain, the appropriation would be brought forth in July, to include the $98,560 NCDOT claim, $48,360 bench damage claim and a $30,000 contingency.
Council member Luke Waddell favored the plan. In March the council member was a proponent of utilizing the benches and balusters elsewhere in the city, due to their historic significance, something he echoed Monday as well.
“It does a couple different things: It gets an historical landmark in Wilmington back up and running, which has been needed for some time,” Waddell said. “It doesn’t just get rid of the other historical aspects of that gift, namely the balusters and the bench. We can integrate it into some space that we may have downtown in the not-too-distant future. Hold them off site and get them repaired when the time is right and repurpose them. It’s a fitting tribute to an historical landmark.”
Port City Daily asked the city when repairs are expected to take place and be completed. Spokesperson Dylan Lee said the contract will advance upon council’s appropriation vote on July 15 and will depend on contractor schedule.
According to the city, repairs were made in 2005 and again in 2008, the latter costing $18,000 on a baluster incident. In 2013, it spent $74,000 to repair the foundation and that year added lighting for $42,000. A new fiberglass liner was added to the bowls in 2013, costing $14,000, according to Lee.
Following Hurricane Florence damage, in 2020 the city spent $65,000 to correct the fountain top and was reimbursed by FEMA.
Tips or comments? Email info@localdailymedia.com.
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
