At the Public Meeting held on July 1 at the Audubon Tea Room I, there was a resounding consensus that the Hyams Fountain should remain unfenced, and not be enclosed within the zoo. While the majority of speakers supported repairing and maintaining the fountain as it was originally intended and designed-- as both a fountain and a wading pool-- there were several speakers who advocated the elimination of its wading pool component.

Therefore, nothing has changed. Every time the issue of the Hyams Fountain has come up over the past 25 years, the same public opinions are aired, the same conclusions are reached... and nothing changes. In fact, Mr Carl Corbin's letter from 1986 on this same issue, which he read aloud at the meeting, could easily have been written last week.

After all these many years, it is time for a change. At least two points regarding the Hyams Fountain remain abundantly clear:

1. The public is never going to accept appropriation of the Hyams Fountain by the zoo.
2. Whatever the "excuse de jour", the Audubon Commission and Audubon Nature Institute are never going to be willing to restore and maintain the fountain as both a fountain and a wading pool.

Public Input

A passionate crowd well into double-figures assembled to air their opinions on the future of the Hyams Fountain, despite subsequent advice from one local commentator to "give it a rest". Should the fountain be enclosed within the zoo, as the Audubon Commission continues to suggest, or should it be re-opened in all its glory for general public use? (See Five Options proposed by Audubon Institute). Some of the speakers had been present at recent Commission deliberations over the golf course and clubhouse projects, others such as Carl Corbin were returning anew to a sadly familiar debate. Still others, possibly stirred into action by Chris Rose's recent article on the plight of the Hyams Fountain (This Old Fountain), also attended - some no doubt for the first time.

Paulette Perrien
The first speaker chided the Audubon Commission for previous attempts to grab one of the last ribbons of greenspace on that side of the park, and posited that the real issue is the land adjacent to the zoo rather than the fountain itself.

Keith Hardie
Mr Hardie, who has tangled publicly with the Audubon Commission and Institute previously, particularly over their clubhouse/restaurant plans, remarked that the Hyams Fountain issue is about preserving open greenspace and quoted a recent survey of park users carried out by the Audubon Institute, which placed "ambience, trees and greenspace" at the top of the list of attractions in Audubon Park. The same survey put the highest priority on better lighting, improvements to the lagoon and aggressive tree management as being the most important maintenance issues in the Park, placing renovation of the golf course dead last.

Mr Hardie's point was that the Hyam's Fountain is an example of what people like most about Audubon Park and that it should be preserved unfenced to be enjoyed by all.

Carl Corbin
Mr Corbin, a local resident, said that he had been active 20 years ago in efforts to preserve open and free greenspace in Audubon Park thru the Upper Audubon Association. "Nothing has changed" he noted, and read briefly from a letter he wrote to the Times-Picayune in 1986

"The present seedy state of the Hyams fountain could give rise to the suspicion that calculated neglect has been allowed to work so as to provide an excuse for an extension of the zoo area."

Read Mr Corbin's 1986 letter here (Audubon Park Plan Threatens Memorial)

Jules Lang
Representing Upper Audubon Association, Ms Lang said that the board of that organization had voted in favor of preserving open greenspace, and that the fountain should not be fenced in. It should therefore be a 'fountain' rather than a 'wading pool' in order that it can be kept open and unfenced.

Betty Stout
A member of the fledgling Audubon Riverside Assocation, though speaking on her own behalf, she remarked that it is "delightful and essential to stumble upon a feature like this", and that either as a fountain or a wading pool, Hyams should be kept open as part of the park and not of the zoo. She urged the Commission to retain the few elements that are still in the park.

Cynthia Swan
Speaking on behalf of Uptown Neighborhood Improvement, Ms Swan recommended that the Hyam's Fountain be considered as part of the Master Plan for Audubon Park scheduled for consideration in late 2002 and not considered on its own.

She noted that the fountain was dedicated in 1921, that the Times-Picayune called for a Master Plan in 1974, and that her own neighborhood group has campaigned for a Master Plan since 1982. Why then should the issue of the fountain be decided in July 2002, when the Audubon Commission has finally agreed to begin a Master Plan process by the end of the year?

She suspects something odd, an ulterior motive perhaps. Not being blessed with the intelligence of some of Mr Forman's tenants she was unable to put her finger on it. Perhaps the Commission would prefer to resolve all all greenspace/public access in its favored ad-hoc way before it begins its Master Plan?

Liz Donaldson
A member of Uptown Triangle Association, Ms Donaldson declared herself in favor of "any plan" that does not fence-off the fountain.

Tom Crumley
Mr Crumley supported two options, either a wading pool inside the zoo or a fountain outside the zoo. Referring to liability issues, he declared it would be a mistake to make a wading pool in the public area of the park unless fully staffed.

He also took the opportunity to thank the Commission and Institute for improvements to the park, and remarked that "improvements to the golf course are great". (A "historic renovation" perhaps?)

Jean Fisher
After a brief conflagration over the purpose of the meeting and the low attendance by both the public and Commission members, Jean Fisher of 123 Walnut Street returned attention to the main issue by remarking that the beauty of Hyams Fountain is that it appeals to families, who can get their feet wet and that it's free.

No such thing as a Free Lunch?

Ms Fisher's remark was taken up by AC president Willard Dumas who sparked a brief debate as to whether the nearby swimming pool is free or not (nobody seemed to know). With reference both to the pool and the fountain he concluded "unfortunately very few free thing are left in the world".

Unfortunate indeed. But since the Audubon Institute has about 2/3rds of the park at its disposal for the zoo and the golf course, and spent $6million mainly of public money on the golf course at least in part to "raise operational funds for the maintenance of the park" perhaps a little free water isn't in fact too much to ask? And a bench, please?

Good Question

An unidentified speaker concluded public input by asking:

Was there any consideration given to completely levelling the fountain, like you have a number of things in the park?

The answer apparently is "no", which at least puts the Hyams Fountain in a different category to the Reilly Fountain, the Heymann Conservatory, the waterfall and reflecting pond at the front of the park, and the Whitney Young Pool all of which have been dispensed with by Institute bulldozers in recent years.

Comments

We would like to suggest that the wading pool part of the fountain be slightly reconfigured (perhaps by a qualified architect who does NOT specialize in cupolas) so that water can mist, spray or flow down the length of the wading pool surface, providing a place for children to play and cool off under the watchful eyes of their parents. "Site improvements", such as benches on which parents can sit, and the high level of maintenance of the Gumbel Fountain at St. Charles Avenue, would also be welcome.

Since very few Commission members were actually present at the commission's public meeting, we further suggest that concerned citizens contact the Audubon Commission and the Audubon Nature Institute staff before next Wednesday's meeting to express their opinions about what should and should not be done regarding the Hyams Fountain.

By Mail:

The Audubon Commission
6500 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA 70118

By email:

Ron Forman
and
Dale Stastny

By Phone:

Ron Forman: 504-861-5119
Dale Stastny: 504-861-5113

ANI Public Meeting on Hyams Fountain - Preview A preview of the public meeting about Hyams Fountain, including discussion of the Audubon Commission options for its future, and of the safety issues that may or may not really be at stake.

Audubon Park Plan Threatens Memorial 10/10/1986 - Carl Corbin A strangely familiar letter from one local resident on the subject of Audubon Commission plans for the Hyams Fountain - more than 15 years old and it could have been written this week.