The Leon S. Peters Business Building fountain has sat dry and untouched for years. Now, students are hoping to get it flowing again and revive its surrounding area.
Kennedi Campbell-Caldwell, a business administration major, is working on marketing the fountain beautification project, from creating flyers for social media to spreading the word in person.
She said there is a lot of pride behind the project, as it is student-led and now serves as an example of how students can make a difference on campus.
“It’s just amazing to be like, ‘students got the fountain back,’” Campbell-Caldwell said. “There was nobody pushing us, nobody making us. We got it back. Look what we can do. So the fountain is a representation of what we can do with the drive and initiative, and just coming together.”
Though the fountain beautification project is just now gaining traction, it began last semester with Faith Bither, also a business administration major.
After noticing the fountain was ignored during a Craig Clean Up event, Bither questioned professors in attendance about the fountain’s condition, but she said none had answers. Soon after, she began to send out emails to faculty and staff to see who could look into the issue.
“We can go all day, trying to point fingers at who let this happen or under whose control did the fountain come to look like this,” Bither said. “But I felt like a bigger priority would be to take pride in the school and rebuild it.”
Jeff Prickett, director of Facilities Operations and Services, told The Collegian that the fountain stopped functioning in 2020.
“The fountain’s pump motor assembly experienced a catastrophic failure and replacement parts were no longer supported by the manufacturer,” Prickett said.
Eventually, Bither got connected with groundsmen on campus. Over the summer, they removed the ivy covering the wall behind the fountain, signaling the official start of the beautification project.
Considering it sits at the heart of the Peters Business Building plaza, she said she hopes to restore the fountain to its former glory, referring to the only documented images she could find online from 2018.
“I feel like my whole vision for this is to just bring the space back to life because it has so much potential,” Bither said. “Seeing pictures of how it ran back then is just evidence of that.”
Prickett said facilities management is now working to replace the pump and reconfigure the existing plumbing needed to connect to the new pump.
As of Oct. 21, water sits in the fountain but does not flow just yet. Despite this, Bither is pleased with the project’s progress.
“Ever since water has been put in the fountain, I’ve been checking on it every single day,” Bither said. “I just love it. And these little baby steps are really exciting because it’s like oh my gosh a few emails were able to do that.”
In the meantime, Bither and her peers have begun to revitalize the fountain’s surrounding area by removing old plants and demolishing a small wooden retaining wall that lined dirt platforms on the sides of the fountain.
In addition, a volunteer day to plant flowers and do small landscape work near the fountain and outside the Peters Business Building will be held in the coming weeks.
Campbell-Caldwell said she hopes students come out and get involved, as it’s a chance for them to network with other organizations in the school of business.
With all the progress on the beautification project made this semester, Bither encourages students to take the initiative to do big things on campus, even if they do not think they can.
“My main message now is if you see something and you have interest in it, don’t get scared,” Bither said. “I saw the fountain and thought it’s kind of scary to do, but believe in yourself. And if you don’t believe in yourself, find someone to help you believe in yourself.”
Though there is still plenty of work to be done, Bither said she is extremely proud of her team for staying committed and being visionary, which has been crucial.
In the future, the team hopes to place a welded sign behind the fountain or paint a mural where the ivy once was, which would add more color to the plaza.
