MEADVILLE — Around 1840, almost a quarter-century before he made a gift of an ornate iron fountain to Meadville’s public square, Evans W. Shippen said he saw what is now Diamond Park overrun by 2,000 mules resting on their way from Kentucky to New York.

Then little more than grazing land, the Diamond had become “almost like the Sahara or the great desert of Africa,” with all the mules that had “dropped and rolled in the dust creating such a cloud of it that the buildings on one side could scarcely be seen from the other side,” the former Philadelphia iron foundry owner reported in a July 11, 1901, article he penned for Meadville’s Tribune-Republican.

Shortly after, Shippen wrote, trees were planted at many places around the Diamond, but the “country people, thinking their rights interfered with, pulled up the trees and posts.”

And “thus it remained,” he stated, “until 1863, when I presented the fountain to the town, which instigated the present improvements.”

Those aforementioned improvements remain evident in Diamond Park today, as does the fountain itself. And now, an ongoing effort to restore Shippen Fountain to its past glory for future generations continues taking steps forward.

One of city Mayor Christopher Soff’s first acts as mayor-elect in late 2009 was to propose the creation of “The City of Meadville Shippen Fountain Fund” to accept contributions from the public for restoration of the fountain and its surrounding fence. With Soff’s fellow Meadville City Council members and then-mayor Richard Friedberg supporting the idea, the fund was put into place, and the fundraising campaign kicked off with Soff’s inaugural ball in January.

At that gala event, green-and-gold-colored piggy banks designed to hold donations to the fund were distributed, and may still be found (and fed) at a variety of locations around Meadville.

The lone bids for the fountain and fence restorations — submitted by the world-renowned Robinson Iron of Alexander City, Ala. — add up to a total of $62,080. At a recent city council public work session, Soff reported a total of roughly $23,800 in donations have been recorded by the project’s committee to date, and “we’re continuing to get donations.”

The committee has asked council to award the contracts for the project during its public meeting Wednesday.

And if the contract is awarded, Soff said, the company may remove the fountain and fencing from the Diamond by around mid-October, restore it and return in improved and functioning order by mid-May next year — just in time for the city’s annual Memorial Day celebration in Diamond Park.

When it comes to funding the project, “the idea is that no taxpayer money will be used,” Soff said last week, adding to his understanding the bill won’t be due until the work is completed and the restored fountain is returned to the city.

The question of what may happen, however, if the fundraising drive does fall short of its mark by the project’s completion did come up at council’s recent study session. Soff and other officials said one possibility should that occur could be to use city funds to cover the remainder of the bill, then continue the fundraising effort to pay the city back.

Council member LeRoy Stearns said money from the city’s general fund could be used for that purpose.

But “hopefully we won’t get to that point,” said Soff. “Hopefully by the time the bill comes due, we’ll have raised the money” entirely from community donations, possibly even with enough of a surplus that there will be funds left over for continuing maintenance of the fountain and its fencing.

And with the fundraising goal nearing the half-way mark of being met with nine months still remaining before May 2011, Soff expressed confidence the community will continue showing interest in and support for the restoration project.

“I know we’ll get the money,” he said.



Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at rsmith@meadvilletribune.com.



You can help

Community fundraising continues for Meadville’s “Save the Fountain” effort to restore the historic Shippen Fountain in Diamond Park.

One way to help the project is to drop some change into the green- and gold-colored piggy banks currently seen around Meadville at Allegro Dance Arts, Artist Cup Cafe, @the bank, Creative Crust, Dougherty-Pringle Insurance Agency, Fine Print, George’s Jewelry, Hagan Business Machines, Hovis Interiors, ILYS Shoe Shoppe, Jack’s Pharmacy, Jeron’s Jewelers, Lang Motors, Loeffler’s Flowers, Meadville Area Federal Credit Union, Meadville Market House, The Meadville Tribune, Pampered Palate, Park Ave. Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant, Sandy’s Artworks, Tattered Corners Bookstore, Value Clothing and YaZone.

And in addition to stuffing the pigs, tax-deductible contributions may also be made by visiting cityofmeadville.org or mailing checks payable to The City of Meadville — with “Shippen Fountain Fund” designated on the memo line — to City Treasurer, Meadville City Building, 984 Water St., Meadville, Pa. 16335.