List of fountains in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area

J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain, by Henri-Léon Gréber (1910, reinstalled in Kansas City and dedicated in 1960) at 47th Street and J.C. Nichols Parkway, Country Club Plaza.

Muse of the Missouri, by Wheeler Williams, downtown, Main Street at 9th Street.

Henry Wollman Bloch Fountain, in front of Union Station, at W. Pershing Road at Main Street.

Children's Fountain, by Tom Corbin, at Oak Trafficway & Burlington (MO Hwy 9).

Volker Fountain, 28-foot-high (8.5 m) waterfall and basin along Brush Creek, Volker Boulevard, between Oak St. and Rockhill Road.

Double Monopole, by Keith Sonnier; twin 60-foot-high (18 m) waterfall sculptures lighted by red, blue, and yellow neon lights, in the median of Cookingham Drive at Paris Street, at Kansas City International Airport.

Fountain of Bacchus, W. 47th Street at Chandler Court in The Plaza. The main sculpture is made of 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) of cast lead.

Firefighters' Fountain, W. 31st Street and Broadway.

Pomona, fountain sculpture by Donatello Gabbrielli, at Ward Parkway & Broadway, in The Plaza.

Northland Fountain, at Oak Trafficway & Vivion Road.

Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain, E. 39th Street at Gillham Road.

Crown Center Square Fountain at Crown Center, Grand Avenue & E. Pershing during the holidays.

Crown Center Square Fountain. "Dancing Waters" shows with synchronized 60-foot-high (18 m) jets of water run every hour all day on weekends, and at noon & evening hours on weekdays.

Meyer Circle ("Seahorse") Fountain, at Meyer Boulevard & Ward Parkway. The fountain hosts a 17th century Venetian sculpture.

Waterworks Spectacular, at Kauffman Stadium.

Fountains in Brush Creek, along Ward Parkway, in The Plaza.

Mermaid Fountain, at Nichols Road & Broadway, in The Plaza.

A fountain at Liberty Memorial.

Kansas City Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fountain, at Broadway & W. 41st Street, in Westport.

Neptune Fountain, W. 47th Street & Wornall Road, in The Plaza.

Northeast Concourse Fountain, on St. John Avenue between Gladstone and Benton Boulevards.

Diana (and Cherubs), fountain sculpture, at Ward Parkway & Wornall Road, in The Plaza.

Auto dealership "car fountain", on NW Prairie View Drive, at I-29.

This page contains a list of fountains in Kansas City metropolitan area. It is primarily composed of fountains in Kansas City, Missouri officially recognized by the City of Fountains Foundation^[1], but also includes fountains throughout the Kansas City Metropolitan Area.

Kansas City has more fountains than any city in the world except Rome, Italy^[2] and is officially known as the City of Fountains^[3].

Description

Fountains form part of the Kansas City's core identity and culture, and it even uses a graphic design of a stylized fountain in its official logo.^[3] Interest in fountains arose during the City Beautiful movement in the 1890s. In 1898, George Kessler, a landscape architect and urban planner, designed the first fountain built by the city of Kansas City, Missouri at 15th and The Paseo. Although it was destroyed in 1941, another fountain designed by him in the same year continues to exist and remains the oldest in the city. Now known as The Women's Leadership Fountain, it is located at 9th and The Paseo. The design originally included an oval, cut limestone basin with water spraying upwards from nozzles in the center of the basin's pool surrounded by a raised sidewalk, a flower garden, gas lamps, and a balustrade above to the south.^[4] The fountain was rebuilt in 1970 and 1990, and began its third major restoration in January 2008 planned for completion in 2009.^[5] Kessler went on to include numerous plans for fountains in his urban designs of the park and boulevard system.

Typically, most of the first fountains in Kansas City served practical rather than decorative purposes. In 1904, the Humane Society of Kansas City (Kansas) – established to prevent cruelty to women, children and animals – built a characteristic fountain near the west end of Minnesota Avenue at N. 3rd Street. Water poured out of spigots in lions' mouths so people could get clean water in their cups. This water fell into a granite basin at a height for horses to drink. The overflow from the basin went into four small pools at street level for dogs to drink. A street light was on top. (In 1967, the fountain was given to the Wyandotte County Museum.) The Humane Society went on to mount more than 100 fountains, including ones made of bronze created for people alone for sanitary purposes.^[6]

Fountain building and the use of decorative statuary exploded in the 1920s after developer J.C. Nichols used them extensively in the development of Country Club Plaza. The most famous fountain in Kansas City is appropriately named J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain. The figures were originally created by French sculptor Henri-Léon Gréber in 1910 for "Harbor Hill," the estate of Clarence Mackay in Roslyn, New York. The four allegorical equestrian figures reportedly represent four great rivers of the world — the Mississippi River, Volga River, Seine River, and Rhine River.^[7] The work is enlivened by sculptures of little children riding dolphins in the pool surrounding the main figures.

The William Volker Memorial Fountain includes the last sculptures by Swedish artist Carl Milles. The five-piece ensemble of bronze statuary shows Saint Martin of Tours, patron saint of France, on horseback, giving his clothes to a beggar surrounded by two angels (one amusingly wearing a wristwatch) and a curious little demon in hiding. The sculptures rest between two pools of water with jet sprays along Volker Boulevard, and sits above a dramatic three-tier, 28 ft (8.5 m) waterfall into a basin on Brush Creek.^[8]

The Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain was originally part of the Seventh Avenue clock created by A.A. Weinman for the Pennsylvania Station in New York City. When the station was torn down, Kansas City petitioned to obtain the clock sculpture and replaced its face with an Eagle Scout tribute.

The "Waterworks Spectacular" has been dousing the outfield during baseball games at Kauffman Stadium for over 30 years.

List of fountains in the Kansas City metropolitan area

0–9

• 49/63 Neighborhood Fountain [1]
• 5901 College Boulevard [2]
• 7007 College Boulevard [3]
• 7101 Tower [4]

A–B

• A Mind Soothed [5]
• Adams Dairy Parkway Fountain [6]
• Aleman Court Fountain [7]
• Alfred Benjamin Memorial Fountain [8]
• Allen Memorial Fountain [9]
• American Legion Fountain at Budd Park (1 of 2)[10]
• American Legion Fountain at Swope Park (2 of 2)[11]
• American War Mothers Memorial Fountain [12]
• Ameristar [13]
• Animals Fountain [14]
• Antioch Park [15]
• Antioch Shopping Center Fountain [16]
• Armour Center Fountain[17]
• Armour Green Fountain [18]
• Bank of America Atrium Fountain [19]
• Bannister Mall Fountain [20]
• Barclay Club Apartments [21]
• Barnes Memorial Fountain [22]
• Barney Allis Plaza Fountain [23]
• Belinder Court Fountain [24]
• Bennington Fountain [25]
• Bernard Powell Memorial Fountain [26]
• Block Courtyard Fountain [27]
• Boar Fountain [28]
• Boy and Fish Fountain [29]
• Boy and Frog Fountain [30]
• Boy with Frog [31]
• Brookwood Fountain [32]
• Brush Creek Fountain I [33]
• Brush Creek Fountain II [34]
• Brush Creek Fountain III [35]

C–E

• Cabella's Indoor Fountain [36]
• Cabella's Outdoor Fountain [37]
• Carl J. DiCapo Fountain [38]
• CarMax [39]
• Children at Play Wall Fountain [40]
• Children's Fountain [41]
• City Center Square Atrium [42]
• City Hall Fountains [43]
• Clock Tower Plaza Fountain [44]
• Colonial Court [45]
• Columbus Square Fountain [46]
• Commerce Bank [47]
• Commerce Bank - Country Club Plaza [48]
• Commerce Tower Sunken Garden Fountain [49]
• Community Federal Savings & Loan Fountain [50]
• Concourse Fountain [51]
• Court of Lions Fountain I [52]
• Court of Lions Fountain II [53]
• Court of Lions Fountain III [54]
• Crown Center [55]
• Crown Center entrance [56]
• D. W. Newcomers Sons Funeral Home Fountains [57]
• Delbert J. Haff Circle Fountain [58]
• Diana [59]
• Diane: Sitting [60]
• Double Monople^[9]
• E. F. Pierson Sculpture Garden Fountain [61]
• Eagle Scout Memorial Fountain [62]
• Eighth Street Fountain I [63]
• Eighth Street Fountain II [64]
• Embassy Suites Hotel Atrium Fountain [65]
• Ensley Lake [66]
• Epperson House Wall Fountain [67]
• Eubank Memorial Fountain [68]
• Ewing & Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden Fountain [69]

F–K

• Federal Building [70]
• Firefighters' Fountain [71]
• Fountain of Bacchus [72]
• Four Fauns Fountain [73]
• Frank Land Memorial Fountain [74]
• George H. Lowry Memorial Fountain [75]
• Glenwood Place Fountain [76]
• Grace & Holy Trinity Cathedral Courtyard Fountain [77]
• Grandview City Hall Veterans Memorial Fountain [78]
• Hallmark Corporate Entrance [79]
• Harold D. Rice Fountain [80]
• Harry Evans Minty Memorial Fountain [81]
• Harvester KC [82]
• Helen Cuddy Memorial Rose Garden Fountain [83]
• Henry Wollman Bloch Memorial Fountain [84]
• Heritage Fountain [85]
• Hillside Fountain [86]
• Hilton Garden Inn [87]
• Home Depot Butterfly Garden at the Zoo [88]
• Hyatt Regency Crown Center [89]
• Ilus Davis Civic Mall Fountain [90]
• J C Nichols Memorial Fountain [91]
• Jane Hemingway Gordon Fountain [92]
• Jay Wolfe Memorial Fountain [93]
• Jefferson Pointe Apartments [94]
• Joe Dennis Park [95]
• John Knox G & H Fountain [96]
• Kansas City Board of Trade Fountain [97]
• Kansas City Life 100-year Commemorative Plaza Fountain [98]
• Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Light Court Fountain [99]
• Kansas City Star Fountain [100]
• Kingswood Manor Fountain [101]
• Kingswood Manor Fountain [102]

L–O

• Landing Shopping Center Fountain [103]
• Landing Shopping Center Fountain [104]
• Leawood City Hall Courtyard Fountain [105]
• Leawood City Hall Courtyard Fountain [106]
• Lenexa City Hall Fountain [107]
• Lenexa City Hall Fountain [108]
• Liberty Memorial Fountain [109]
• Liberty Memorial Fountain [110]
• Lighton Plaza I [111]
• Lighton Plaza II [112]
• Loose Park Lake Fountain [113]
• Loose Park Rose Garden Fountain [114]
• Loose Park Wall Fountain-female [115]
• Loose Park Wall Fountain-male [116]
• Mardi Gras Jazz Fountain [117]
• Marriott Kansas City Downtown [118]
• Marriott Residence Inn [119]
• Martha & Jack Steadman Fountain [120]
• Mary A. Fraser Memorial Fountain [121]
• Mermaid Fountain [122]
• Metro North Mall fountains^[10]
• Meyer Circle Fountain [123]
• Mill Creek Sanctuary [124]
• Mission Hills City Hall [125]
• Missouri State Building Fountain [126]
• Molamphy Memorial Fountain [127]
• Muse of the Missouri [128]
• Nebraska Furniture Mart I [129]
• Nebraska Furniture Mart II [130]
• Nebraska Furniture Mart III [131]
• Neptune Fountain [132]
• Newport Apartment Fountain [133]
• Nichols Restaurant Wall Fountain [134]
• Northeast Concourse Fountain [135]
• Northland Fountain [136]
• Nurses Memorial Fountain [137]
• Nymph [138]
• Olathe City xHall Fountain [139]
• On Sun/34 Moons [140]

P–S

• Pamona Fountain [141]
• Parkville Spirit Fountain [142]
• Paseo and Seventy-ninth St. Fountain [143]
• Pegasus [144]
• Penguins Fountain [145]
• Penn Tower Building Atrium Fountain [146]
• Pointe Royal Fountain [147]
• Pompeiian Urn [148]
• Prairie Village [149]
• Prairie Village Shopping Center Fountain [150]
• Prospect Plaza Fountain [151]
• Providence Medical Center Fountain [152]
• Rain Thicket [153]
• Renner Boulevard Fountains (5)[154]
• Robert H. Gillham Fountain [155]
• Rockhurst [156]
• Romanelli Park Fountain [157]
• Romany Fountain [158]
• Russell Stover Fountain [159]
• Scottish Rite Temple Fountain [160]
• Seville Light Fountain [161]
• Shawnee Mission Parkway Fountain [162]
• Shepherds Fountain [163]
• Shirley Bush Helzberg Garden of the Stars Fountain [164]
• Sittenfeld Memorial Fountain [165]
• Sixty-Ninth Street Fountain [166]
• South Garden Reflecting Pool and Patio [167]
• Spirit of Freedom Fountain [168]
• Spring Valley Park [169]
• Sprint Headquarters [170]
• Station Park Fountain [171]
• Stowers Gift of Life Fountain [172]
• Stratford Garden Park Fountain [173]
• Swan Fountain [174]
• Swope Park Zoo Entrance [175]
• Swope Park Zoo Entrance II [176]

T–Z

• The Fountains Luxury Retail Center [177]
• The Meadows [178]
• The Plaza Tennis Center [179]
• Thomas H. Swope Memorial Fountain [180]
• Three Lakes Apartments [181]
• Tomahawk Creek Apartments Fountain [182]
• Tomahawk/Wenonga Road Fountain [183]
• Tropical Asia [184]
• Two Pershing Square I [185]
• Two Pershing Square II [186]
• UMKC Miller Nichols Library Fountain I [187]
• UMKC Miller Nichols Library Fountain II [188]
• Union Station [189]
• United Missouri Bank Atrium Garden Fountain [190]
• Unity Village Fountains
• Veterans of Foreign Wars Centennial Plaza [191]
• Victor X. Anderson Park Fountain [192]
• Vietnam Veterans Fountain [193]
• Vision Fountain [194]
• Volker Memorial Fountain [195]
• Ward Parkway Mirror Pool Fountain [196]
• Water Spectacular [197]
• Westin Crown Center Hotel Lobby Fountain [198]
• Westside Fountain [199]
• Westwood Hills Fountain II [200]
• Westwood Hills Fountains I [201]
• William T. & Charlotte Crosby Kemper Memorial Fountain [202]
• William T. Fitzsimons Memorial Fountain [203]
• Windsor I [204]
• Windsor II [205]
• Winged Waterways [206]
• Women's Leadership Fountain [207]
• Wornall Road & 67th Street Fountain [208]

References

1. ^ City of Fountains | News
2. ^ "Kansas City's Fountains Will Flow". KCTV Kansas City, MO. Meredith Corporation. 2009-03-16. http://www.kctv5.com/news/19057903/detail.html. Retrieved 2009-08-20. 
3. ^ ^{a b} 1992 ordinance enacting new logo
4. ^ City of Fountains Foundation (KCFountains.org), Education: Brief History of Kansas City Fountains, downloaded 3 August 2008
5. ^ The Kansas City Star, KC's oldest fountain is undegoing renovation, 10 March 2009, p. F4
6. ^ Ibid., downloaded 3 August 2008
7. ^ MacKayHistory.com, Mackay Fountain, 1910 to c.1949, downloaded 21 July 2008.
8. ^ City of Fountains Foundation (KCFountains.org), Volker Memorial Fountain, downloaded 3 August 2008.
9. ^ City of Kansas City, The Fountain Pen, "KCI art newest addition to the 'City of Fountains'", August 2006, p. 1, downloaded 26 July 2008
10. ^ http://www.metronorthmallkc.com/index3.htm

External links

• Official site
• Kansas City Library fountain resources
• Rozzelle Court Fountain