Swan Lake Fountain

[Nick Danger]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?articleID=070904_1_A1_hArea50508

Swan Lake feature ailing
ROBERT S. CROSS / Tulsa World

The Swan Lake fountain, which hasn't worked for years, will be rebuilt if area residents can raise enough money. The cost of replacing the fountain has been estimated at more than $600,000.

By ALTHEA PETERSON World Staff Writer
9/4/2007

Area residents begin a fund drive to fix the lake's broken fountain.

Swan Lake is still a dog-walking, bird-watching destination in midtown Tulsa, but one of its historic trademarks -- its stone fountain -- has been in disrepair since 2000.

Neighborhood residents are organizing to do something about that.

The fountain has been a part of Swan Lake since its construction in the 1920s; it was rebuilt in 1938.

Now the fountain has a large crack, weeds are growing though it, and, most importantly, it does not function, said one area resident, Kevin Doyle.

"This is about getting it back to what it was and what it should be," he said.

Doyle, who personally takes care of the lake's resident swans, is the chairman of the Swan Lake Fountain Restoration Project Committee.

Support from the city allowed the park to undergo a restoration project in 1986 and bank stabilization in 2003, he said.

"Growing up in this neighborhood, I can't believe it looks this way now," Doyle said. "Visually, there's been a lot done, but there's still a lot that needs to be done."

Tulsa Parks data resource manager, said he has worked on Swan Lake for the past 25 years. The fountain was not repaired earlier because of the cost, and now, "We've realized that the fountain is unrepairable," he said, "so we'll need to pull it out and rebuild it exactly how it was."

A March 2007 estimate put total replacement costs for the fountain at $603,885.36.

Warren said a project to replace the fountain by itself would take six months.

However, the entire proposed project, which would include the fountain, lake water-quality improvements, site enhancements and a maintenance and operations endowment would cost $1.7 million and take up to a year.

While past projects, including the $380,000 stabilization project in 2003, have had funding from city sales taxes, the city would have difficulty matching funds or funding the project solely, Warren said.

"Unfortunately, there aren't any pots of money lying around," Warren said.

Caroline Benediktson, who moved to the Swan Lake area in 2004, said efforts to raise funds have already started.

Utica Square merchants' sales of swan ornaments created by Garden Deva benefit the project, she said.

"People have been very positive," Benediktson said. "The lake is part of the attractiveness of the city. It's something that makes Tulsa special."

While the lake is a residential area, Doyle said the entire community, not just a neighborhood, has an interest in the project.

"This will enhance the ability of the public to use the park," he said. "It's going to take the entire city to complete, because we can't do this alone."

The project also needs volunteers to spread the word, Benediktson said.

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This is sad. Is this a public or private park? I would rather see the city spend money fixing up a treasure like this than some of the other things they choose to do. It's hard to believe that a fountain would cost $600K to replace, but I guess it's a drop in the bucket compared to some of the other projects on the horizon.

Nick

[aoxamaxoa]

KD is a straight up good person....it's nice to see this effort.

There is tons of oil and gas money now circulating in T town. Great to see. Would be even greater to see more of the lucky one's who have recently made big bucks as oil went from $18 a barrel to $70 a barrel participating....

Kaiser is a gift horse.... where are all the colts?