PORTLAND — Renovation has started on a historic fountain on Federal Street, behind Central Fire Station.
City Hall spokeswoman Nicole Clegg said work on the Stanley Pullen fountain, which was used as watering trough for horses in the early 1900s, will be completed this winter, with a rededication ceremony expected in the spring.
The fountain, which juts out into Federal Street, has been damaged by snow plows and the target of graffiti.
The improvements will include an enhanced seating area, restoration of the granite base and plumbing repairs. There will also be bollards and a raised curb to protect the fountain.
As of Dec. 23, much of the new sidewalk had been laid down and one of the protective bollards had been installed.
Clegg said the $35,000 project is being funded through the city’s Capital Improvement Plan, which dedicates 1/2 percent of the roughly $10 million budget to support the acquisition of art, conservation of existing art and the commissioning of new pieces.
Another $7,500 has been donated by the Margaret E. Burnham Charitable Trust, Clegg said.
The fountain bears the name of Stanley Thomas Pullen, who at one time was the president of the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals. He died in 1910.
The Historic Preservation Board does not know exactly when the fountain was installed, but it reportedly was in existence several years before the fire station was built in 1923.
Gnome Landscape & Design of Falmouth is doing the work, under the authority of the city’s Public Arts Committee.
“Once completed, this space will be a jewel, enhancing the area while preserving a piece of our past,”Committee Chairman Jack Soley said in a press release.
Randy Billings can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 100 or rbillings@theforecaster.net
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Workers from Gnome Landscape Design & Masonry of Falmouth have made progress on $35,000 worth of renovations and repairs to the historic Stanley Pullen fountain on Federal Street in Portland, behind Central Fire Station.
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