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Mill Creek to reopen renovated fountain
By Elise Franco
Youngstown
Two months of construction and more than a year of fundraising proved fruitful as Mill Creek MetroParks prepares to reintroduce the Seasonal Celebration Plaza and the renovated K. Calvin and Helen Sommer Memorial Fountain.
The $500,000 renovation will open to the public during a short program at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Fellows Riverside Gardens, said Keith Kaiser, Mill Creek MetroParks horticulture director.
Kaiser said the 33-year-old fountain, which has been shut off since 2008 because of mechanical issues, was originally named in 1979 for Sommer, former president of the MetroParks board of park commissioners.
An overhaul was done on the fountain, including a new, more-shallow basin, allowing for less daily water use, Kaiser said.
He said a new design was one of the most important aspects of the project.
“It was important to engage the visitor, to slow them down,” he said. “We have a new water display, and we’re incorporating the landscape around the fountain into explaining the seasons better.”
On each corner of the fountain is a quote that relates to a season — “Spring, daffodils smile; Summer, leaves flutter; Fall, acorns scatter; Winter, branches glisten.”
He said the renovated fountain was renamed to honor Sommer’s wife, Helen, as well.
“The family made a generous contribution to the project, so we decided to add her name to the fountain,” Kaiser said.
Two of the Sommers’ four daughters will attend the opening. Virginia Sommer Robertson, 70, of Emmaus, Pa., said the fountain has important meaning to her entire family.
“It’s a memorial to our parents,” she said. “It’s been sitting broken. ... But it’s fixed now, and it’s a tribute to them.”
Robertson said her parents would be pleased with the renovation. “Absolutely, they’d be proud,” she said. “Nature and outdoor beauty were always a large part of their lives.”
Robertson’s sister Patricia Matter also is scheduled to attend.
The project also included new walkways from the fountain to the south terrace along the perennial garden and around the fountain, and rebuilding of the miniature rose beds, Kaiser said.
One change that visitors might notice right away is the removal of 110 pavers that made up part of the walkway leading from the Davis Visitors Center to the fountain.
Kaiser said the pavers are engraved with the names of those who donated to the MetroParks when they were raising money to build the Davis Center about 10 years ago, but some of them began to deteriorate.
“Those pavers were not a good choice to start with,” he said. “Some of the larger ones were made out of natural stone that would break and disintegrate.”
Not all of the pavers were removed, but Kaiser said donors’ names on the ones that were will be put on a plaque that will be hung inside the Davis Center.
He said donors or their families can pick up their paver at the gardens.
Those closest to the project know the work wouldn’t have been a reality if not for private donors, Kostka said.
“I think we’ve got about $454,000 raised,” she said. “We’re almost there. I would love for someone to come out [Wednesday] and put us over the top.”
Kostka said everyone is excited and relieved that the Celebration Plaza is finally finished.
“These projects are really important to people who live here because they want the park to stay beautiful,” she said. “The fountain will once again become a focal point.”
Kostka said those who want to attend the opening should RSVP at 330-740-7116.