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Friendship Fountain is a large
fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...
in
Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
. It is in St. Johns River Park (also known as Friendship Fountain Park) at the west end of
Downtown Jacksonville Downtown Jacksonville is the historic core and central business district (CBD) of Jacksonville, Florida USA. It comprises the earliest area of the city to be developed and is located in its geographic center along the narrowing point of the St. Jo ...
's
Southbank Riverwalk The Jacksonville Riverwalks are a network of multi-use trails and open space developments along both the north and south banks of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The roughly Downtown Northbank portion travels alongside the Hyatt ...
attraction. The world's largest and tallest fountain when it opened, it has been one of Jacksonville's most recognizable and popular attractions. The fountain and park were designed by Jacksonville architect
Taylor Hardwick Taylor Hardwick (July 15, 1925 – September 27, 2014) was an American architect, interior designer, filmmaker, and educator who designed hundreds of buildings throughout northeast Florida, predominantly in and near the city of Jacksonville. Ha ...
in 1963 and opened in 1965. The fountain's three pumps could push of water per minute up to in height. Friendship Fountain remained one of Jacksonville's signature attractions through the 20th century, but severe corrosion and deterioration to the equipment resulted in periodic closures in the 2000s. In 2011 the city completed a $3.2 million renovation to the fountain and the surrounding park.


History

The fountain and Friendship Park was designed by
Taylor Hardwick Taylor Hardwick (July 15, 1925 – September 27, 2014) was an American architect, interior designer, filmmaker, and educator who designed hundreds of buildings throughout northeast Florida, predominantly in and near the city of Jacksonville. Ha ...
, the Jacksonville architect who also designed the
Haydon Burns Library The Jessie Ball duPont Center is a nonprofit complex in downtown Jacksonville, Florida. The building served as the main branch of the Jacksonville Public Library system from 1965 until 2005, when it was replaced by the current facility. The librar ...
. An area of of land were donated for the project by the Southside Business Men's Club, an organization dedicated to the improvement of the Southside that was established in 1932. Begun in 1963 and completed at a cost of $1.7 million, the park opened in March 1965. The "world’s largest and tallest" fountain at the time, it became a popular tourist attraction. The three pumps had a combined and could push per minute; some streams as tall as a 10-story building. The enclosure for the pumps and controls was so large that the architect had to include it as an element of design. The Fountain was originally called the "Fountain of Friendship in Dallas Thomas Park"; ''friendship'' at the suggestion of a
Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...
member and ''Dallas Thomas'' after the city's parks and finance commissioner. However, when Thomas was later involved in a scandal and indicted, the park was renamed in 1968.


Harbormasters and River City Brewing Company

The
Acosta Bridge The St. Elmo W. Acosta Bridge spans the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida on a fixed span. It is named for City Councilman St. Elmo W. Acosta, who convinced voters to approve a $950,000 bond issue for the original bridge at the site. ...
was rebuilt beginning in 1990, and the Diamond Head Lobster House was in its path and had to be demolished. The city agreed to use a big portion of Friendship park for the new restaurant and parking lot, cutting the park by more than half. Essentially, all the design structures in the park were removed-—with the exception of the fountain itself—-for what became a
boondoggle A boondoggle is a project that is considered a waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to extraneous policy or political motivations. Etymology "Boondoggle" was the name of the newspaper of the Roosevelt Troop of the Boy Sco ...
. The new facility was named Harbormasters, and the city guaranteed a $2.9 million federal building loan on the city's land. Initial success was followed by lawsuits, a new owner, missed rent payments, foreclosure, loan default and finally closure in 1992. When the venture failed, the city had to pay off the nearly $3 million loan. The River City Brewing Company, which replaced Harbormasters in November 1993, has been successful, but because the city owns the land, the restaurant pays no property taxes.

In October 2020 Maritime Concepts L.C., which owned River City Brewing Company, submitted a plan to the Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) to raze the restaurant and create an 8-story building with 325 apartments. A DIA staff report stated that Maritime Concepts had contracted with
The Related Companies The Related Companies, L.P. is an American real estate firm in New York City, with offices and developments in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, Abu Dhabi, London, São Paulo and Shanghai. Related has more than 3,0 ...
to sell the unexpired lease with the City of Jacksonville. The terms of the 99-year lease, which began in 1988, specified $40,000 in base each year plus 0.5% of revenue above $4.5 million. The report also noted that, “During the term of this lease, the lessee has not achieved the threshold to pay the Additional Rent, which in combination with the continuing disrepair of the docks, provides evidence of the underutilization of this high-profile asset.” Other elements of the proposal include releasing 1/3 acre from the lease resulting in the addition of 110 feet to the
Jacksonville Riverwalks The Jacksonville Riverwalks are a network of multi-use trails and open space developments along both the north and south banks of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The roughly Downtown Northbank portion travels alongside the Hyatt ...
and a small corridor for public access to the riverwalk. The deal would also provide the company with 20 years of city tax rebates but not affect school taxes. The restaurant stated that if the proposal is approved, they would relocate.


Long service

Friendship Fountain functioned for over 20 years and was refurbished in December 1985, before resuming operation for another 15 years. Finally, wear and corrosion forced its closure at the end of the century. A five-month, $1.3 million rehabilitation began when the fountain was drained in March 2001. A new feature was added: six light towers with computer-controlled color-changing floodlights. Unanticipated damage to stainless steel pipes was uncovered, requiring a $97,000 increase in cost and two-month delay, but the fountain re-opened in December 2001. It operated for seven months until a power outage/
voltage spike In electrical engineering, spikes are fast, short duration electrical transients in voltage (voltage spikes), current (current spikes), or transferred energy (energy spikes) in an electrical circuit. Fast, short duration electrical transients ...
damaged the computer controller and blew out 40 lights and lenses on April 29, 2002. That was repaired, and the fountain was fully functional for nearly 3 years. It was a major attraction at
Super Bowl XXXIX Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League ( ...
in February 2005, but two months later, two of the three original (40-year-old) pumps failed and parts were no longer available. The replacement cost for the pumps was estimated at $400,000, but the city budget was tight and money was not available. Afterward the fountain was run on one pump with a greatly reduced flow.Scanlan, Dan
"Friendship Fountain's water jets falter due to bad pumps"
Florida Times-Union, June 15, 2005
It was repaired in 2011 and is functional.


Features

*The fountain's basin is in diameter holding of water which is treated according to
swimming pool sanitation Swimming pool sanitation is the process of ensuring healthy conditions in swimming pools. Proper sanitation is needed to maintain the visual clarity of water and to prevent the transmission of infectious waterborne diseases. Methods Two distinct ...
standards. *The spray component consists of three rings. *The outer ring contains 36 nozzles, equally spaced around the perimeter, projecting a stream of water inward at a 45° angle, rising , driven by a motor with a pump capacity of 6,750 GPM *The middle ring is in diameter and consists of 18 nozzles directed vertically, rising to a height of , driven by a motor with a pump capacity of 4,500 GPM. *The center ring is in diameter and contains nine nozzles operating vertically, rising to a height of , driven by a motor with a pump capacity of 5,500 GPM. * The fountain has an
anemometer In meteorology, an anemometer () is a device that measures wind speed and direction. It is a common instrument used in weather stations. The earliest known description of an anemometer was by Italian architect and author Leon Battista Alberti ( ...
that controls the height of the center nozzles. If the force of the wind is from 5 to an hour, the height of the center nozzles will not exceed . For wind speed in excess of an hour, the height of the center nozzles is limited to . This was done to control the blow-off of water into the park and onto persons around the fountain. *Each nozzle has a cluster of four lights: dark red, light red, turquoise and amber.


Current status

The future of the Jacksonville landmark was in doubt for a number of years. A number of proposals were made, including moving
Kids Kampus Metropolitan Park is a urban waterfront park and concert venue located on the north bank of the St. Johns River in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It is projected to be the eastern terminus of the northbank Jacksonville Riverwalk. Facility Th ...
from
Metropolitan Park Metropolitan Park is a urban waterfront park and concert venue located on the north bank of the St. Johns River in Downtown Jacksonville, Florida. It is projected to be the eastern terminus of the northbank Jacksonville Riverwalk. Facility ...
and eliminating the fountain, rebuilding a smaller fountain or renovating the existing fountain. As of May 2008, there was $15 million in the city's capital projects budget to improve the Southbank Riverwalk, which includes the area around Friendship Fountain; but Mayor John Peyton felt the amount was not enough. The Jacksonville City Council approved final plans for a $3.2 million renovation and repair to the surrounding park and Friendship Fountain on February 9, 2010. On August 10, 201

The Friends of Friendship Fountain Website, reported communications from the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission that AC General Inc was named contractor for the project. An official groundbreaking was held on September 1, 2010 marking the start of the renovation of Friendship Fountain and Park. The fountain was closed for eight months for construction, and reopened again on June 18, 2011 amid a celebration. A major renovation is planned for 2020–2021.


References


External links


Friendship Fountain official websiteFriends of Friendship Fountain websiteFountain Details
{{coord, 30.320012, -81.659812, display=title Buildings and structures in Jacksonville, Florida History of Jacksonville, Florida Culture of Jacksonville, Florida Government of Jacksonville, Florida Taylor Hardwick buildings Parks in Jacksonville, Florida Downtown Jacksonville Southbank, Jacksonville Jacksonville Modern architecture 1965 establishments in Florida Fountains in Florida