The nation’s capital is famous for its national parks, monuments and memorials, but not so much for maintaining them. A new report by Washington, D.C.’s NBC affiliate found nearly half of the National Mall’s water fountains at these renowned tourist sites are defunct.
Approximately 40 percent of all fountains in the city do not work. Waterless fountains are a site locals may have become accustomed to seeing, but one that’s surprising and disappointing to tourists visiting the city to take in its history.
The National Parks Service had asked residents to report broken fountains. At present, the Freedom Plaza, Dupont Circle fountain and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial’s waterfalls and pools are just some examples of those out of service. Union Station’s 115-year-old Columbus Fountain has gone unfixed for decades.
The price tag for fixing all of these fountains could come in at more than $850 million, the operating budget of a small country. Forty percent of those on the National Mall are simply too expensive to repair. A National Mall spokesman said it can be challenging for the agency to keep tabs on the Mall’s 25 water features, but they focus on manageable projects.
This year, the Park Service’s 100-year anniversary, Congress granted the agency an extra $90 million in funding. The Park Service has put the money toward restoring mall turf, repairing the Lincoln reflecting pool, walkways in the Constitution Gardens and three other projects.
Watching them undertaking those tasks might be enough to make observers thirsty.
