There was an old b/w on another thread with the Hanna Fountains in it and it caused me to remember I had a bunch of photos given to me by such and such a person at such and such place.

 

So, without further delay - I present...

 

[glow=red,2,300]THE HISTORIC HANNA FOUNTAINS[/glow]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved to have my lunch out by the fountains back in the 80s.  at night...it was a total different story!

 

What a great trip down memory lane

Wow, great pics!

You guys do notice that old "engineers" buliding, which is where Society Tower/Marriot now stand.

So, why did they get rid of these??

They leaked into the convention center below.

 

"You guys do notice that old "engineers" buliding, which is where Society Tower/Marriot now stand."

 

The Engineers Building only took up the Marriott parcel - I also noticed the parking lot that Key Tower filled :-)

musky, how old are these? late 70's - early 80's?

Yeah, so why did they remove and replace these?

Oh - I see 1950's - 60's cars...

musky, how old are these? late 70's - early 80's?

 

Looking at some of the clothes & cars, I'm guessing mid to late 60s - early 70s

 

They leaked into the convention center below.

 

"You guys do notice that old "engineers" buliding, which is where Society Tower/Marriot now stand."

 

The Engineers Building only took up the Marriott parcel - I also noticed the parking lot that Key Tower filled :-)

 

Thanks for getting all technical on me!  LOL   :-P

 

Yeah, so why did they remove and replace these?

 

As MayDay mentioned, they were leaking into the CC.  IIRC, they tried to save them but the amount of damage to the roof was substantial and replacing them AND the amount of money to maintain them in the future far out weighed replacing them.  So in a nutshell, you now have a conv. center with a (then) new roof and a lovely lawn.

They should have just paid to fix it. Although I can picture a scenario like in Cincinnati where residents complain to no end about how the city spent so much money on something where you can't notice much of a physical difference.

musky, how old are these? late 70's - early 80's?

 

Oh - I see 1950's - 60's cars...

 

There are no dates on the photos. I imagine from the clothes worn that it is late 60s or very early 70s.

What sits on the site now? Is it still a public space?

It's currently just a big patch of grass - until about a year ago, there was a project by Cleveland Public Art occupying the site. The same artist who designed the Irish Hunger Memorial in NYC designed a series of 8 "urns" that were modeled from the windflow off Lake Erie. They were meant to be a temporary installation (for 2 years):

 

 

What sits on the site now? Is it still a public space?

 

The mall is public space and will be forever, thank goodness

 

this is an overhead view.  There are other pictures in Cleveland Photo threads that show the mall

got my answer, responded like 1 hr after opening the thread.

 

thanks!

so what did happen to the fountains? (why/when/etc?)

 

I think they were removed in '95/'96

I remember being a kid marching in the St. Pat's parade and we would always wind up at the Mall.  The fountains were just sitting there, rusting away for years.

 

If I remember correctly, when they redid the convention center in the 80's they had the fountains working again for one year.  I think...maybe.

I remember being a kid marching in the St. Pat's parade and we would always wind up at the Mall.  The fountains were just sitting there, rusting away for years.

 

If I remember correctly, when they redid the convention center in the 80's they had the fountains working again for one year.  I think...maybe.

 

Because they would not be on in the Winter.  They would turn them off by Thanksgiving then back on by Easter, if my memory serves me correctly.

 

IIRC, part of the problem was the pumping system would freeze/thaw/expanded/contracted with our climate changes which led to leaks & cracks in the system over several decades, which affected the operations in the convention center.

 

Lord...I'm old!  :x

 

Edit:  I vaguely remember that the fountains would be shut off at the same time the ice rink at Erieview would open in fall, then in spring the ice rink would close and the fountains turned back on.

They were beautiful at night:

It's currently just a big patch of grass - until about a year ago, there was a project by Cleveland Public Art occupying the site. The same artist who designed the Irish Hunger Memorial in NYC designed a series of 8 "urns" that were modeled from the windflow off Lake Erie. They were meant to be a temporary installation (for 2 years):

 

 

 

Those sculptures were very cool. I wonder where they are now?

 

They were beautiful at night:

 

During the holidays they would but different colored lights in the fountains which was cool or during the home & flower show the mall would be decked out like a floral carpet up into the water.  At Christmas time the fountain platforms would be done up in their holiday best by the folks a Higbee's & Halle's.

Nice pics!!  Maybe one day the city will have enough money, with the (hopefully) renovated convention center to add the fountains back if there is enough of a public call for them.

Those fountains were my second favorite thing downtown behind the Terminal Tower when I was a kid (early 80's).  They also used to have the Rib Burn Offs there if I believe.

I remember on a Christmas list one year my first item on it was for the fountains to be turned back on after years of being off.  What a sap.

Those fountains were my second favorite thing downtown behind the Terminal Tower when I was a kid (early 80's).  They also used to have the Rib Burn Offs there if I believe.

I remember on a Christmas list one year my first item on it was for the fountains to be turned back on after years of being off.  What a sap.

 

yep the one of the varios Rib Burn Offs would be on mall the old C back in the day. I remember we would buy a bunch of ribs and go to my office and watch the fireworks

^^ I wouldn't buy it.

 

Here is another...

I've always felt that they should build a park OVER the expressway and railroad tracks out to the lake.  It would sure be expensive, but maybe we can drum up some federal money (yea, right).  It would cost a fraction of what "The Big Dig" did in Boston.  The fountains looked great BTW.  My wife brought up a good point.  Why was it so hard to keep those fountains from leaking when the put swimming pools on top of skyscrapers in Chicago?

Some possible reasons:

 

1. The site isn't completely flat. There's a slight grade from St. Clair to Lakeside which wouldn't be the easiest thing to re-engineer.

2. Unlike a swimming pool, the water was constantly being pumped in and out.

3. The site is substantially larger than a swimming pool typical in a residential tower.

Wow, the city sure has changed since those photos.  I’m definitely old enough that I should have remember those fountains, but for some reason I don’t.  Thinking back, the only times I can remember going downtown as a kid were during the Christmas season or for a football game, so it may be that they were just never running when I was there.  It definitely would have made an impression on me.  It’s a shame they took them out.

Bump. for those for looking for more information. Like me :-D

 

It has been suggested somewhere around here that the founatins are in storage somewhere in the city? Does anybody know if that is true? Or were they scrapped?

IIRC the materials and workmanship on the individual fountains were not all that remarkable.  I really doubt they were saved, because they were highly corroded by the time they were uninstalled, and it would be easy to recreate them.

Thanks Punch.

 

I'd imagine that with the extra clearance they are trying to get out of the new convention center there is zero chance of a recreation being installed. due to weight and water issues

It's currently just a big patch of grass - until about a year ago, there was a project by Cleveland Public Art occupying the site. The same artist who designed the Irish Hunger Memorial in NYC designed a series of 8 "urns" that were modeled from the windflow off Lake Erie. They were meant to be a temporary installation (for 2 years):

 

 

 

Actually, there are some indigenous grasses such as big&little bluestem, implemented into the public art project--representing Ohio's natural heritage, which I thought was a nifty addition to promote more such island plantings in preference to energy consuming turf grass--which is basically an eco-dead zone.

 

 

By the way, does anyone have any photos of the old Erieview Plaza? This spot also had fountains.

http://images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/postcards&CISOPTR=3259&CISOBOX=1&REC=9

"Actually, there are some indigenous grasses such as big&little bluestem, implemented into the public art project--representing Ohio's natural heritage, which I thought was a nifty addition to promote more such island plantings in preference to energy consuming turf grass--which is basically an eco-dead zone."

 

My post you referenced was made in 2007 and at the time, it WAS a big patch of grass.

I liked the big patch of grass.  It was fun to play frisbee there.  I saw others kicking around soccer balls.  Now there's a big patch of grass that no one can play on.  Downtown is full of young, active people.  There's a missed connection there.

1979:

 

1979:

 

 

Man oh man,  look at all of those trees. Excellent pic as usual Rob. Is that scanned from the negative or a slide? It looks way too nice to be from a print.

1979:

 

 

Man oh man,  look at all of those trees. Excellent pic as usual Rob. Is that scanned from the negative or a slide? It looks way too nice to be from a print.

 

Thanks. It was scanned from a 35mm negative, probably Kodacolor 100. I would have shot more except that I was with a vain PITA BF who went into a royal sulk when I pointed my camera at anything other than him.

 

Here's another shot, of snapdragons in one of the planters by the fountains:

 

Then, the fountains were known as a nighttime cruising spot (if one like to flirt with danger).

1979:

 

 

Man oh man,  look at all of those trees. Excellent pic as usual Rob. Is that scanned from the negative or a slide? It looks way too nice to be from a print.

 

Thanks. It was scanned from a 35mm negative, probably Kodacolor 100. I would have shot more except that I was with a vain PITA BF who went into a royal sulk when I pointed my camera at anything other than him.

 

Here's another shot, of snapdragons in one of the planters by the fountains:

 

Then, the fountains were well known as a nighttime cruising spot (if one like to flirt with danger).

 

I fixed that for you.  Time of day was never an issue.  I could see the cruising from my window at BP.  Those kids cruised from the Arcade, thru the library garden, onto the mall and down to the back of city hall.

 

I fixed that for you.  Time of day was never an issue.  I could see the cruising from my window at BP.  Those kids cruised from the Arcade, thru the library garden, onto the mall and down to the back of city hall.

 

Why does that not surprise me...  Oh maybe because of some of the people I knew that worked there :wink:.

 

I fixed that for you.  Time of day was never an issue.  I could see the cruising from my window at BP.  Those kids cruised from the Arcade, thru the library garden, onto the mall and down to the back of city hall.

 

Why does that not surprise me...  Oh maybe because of some of the people I knew that worked there ;) .

I'm not one to gossip, but from what I hear, that was the safest place to cruise, as the civic center portion of downtown was dead after 6 PM.  City hall was ghost town.  The Galleria wasn't really happening yet.  The Warehouse district was pretty much all gay bars.  So the mall area from city hall to Rockwell was crusing ground zero.  At night people would just drive around in circles.

 

Hmmm....Back on topic.  Does anyone actually know what happened to the fountains? Are they in storage? Could we at least do some sort of water feature? At least a slip-n-slide?