By Brandon Barger
TheStatehouseFiles.com

INDIANAPOLIS—After a long wait, the fountain in the centennial plaza at the Indiana Statehouse is spouting once again.

The fountain has been shut off since the winter of 2017, because of a problem with the control panel that worked the lights and the water element. It was originally built as part of the plaza commissioned by then-Gov. Mike Pence for Indiana’s bicentennial in 2016.

The fountain includes jets that shoot water into the air and small square lights that are lit up with different colors. The fountain also had a cascading front, which turns the fountain into a reflecting pool when the jets are turned off.

Earlier in August, Jill Carnell, the chief administrative officer of the Indiana Department of Administration, said the fountain itself cost $1.1 million and was expected to run annually between April 15 to Oct. 15.

Carnell said that it took a while for the IDOA to find contractors that could work on the $46,000 repair job on the fountain.

“There were several complex repairs and there are not very many vendors who work on fountains,” she said. “It took a while to figure out the best course of action going forward.”

After repairs were completed, the fountain was tested last Thursday and was fully operational on Friday. Carnell was very excited that the fountain was repaired on schedule.

“We at IDOA hoped to have the fountain operational by mid to late August, so we were glad to meet that deadline last week,” she said.

The fountain is expected to continue flowing until Oct.15.

FO(TNOTE: Brandon Barger is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalists.