An evening attraction could be headed for Fredenhagen Park in downtown Naperville.
The Riverwalk Commission has begun taking a look at adapting the fountain in the center of the paved plaza to play music, synchronized with a multicolored light show, and having the added feature play for an hour each night.
“It would be coordinated fountain music with lights, similar to what they have in Grand Haven, Mich.,” said Commissioner Chuck Papanos.
Set along the Grand River in the coastal city south of Muskegon, that fountain network was built in 1962. The Grand Haven fountain, modeled after a similar facility in Germany, remained the world’s largest collection of musical fountains until 1998, when a larger one was opened at the Bellagio Casino and Resort in Las Vegas.
Calling the proposition “interesting,” commission Chairman Bill Epp said the Fredenhagen location, southeast of Chicago Avenue and Washington Street, has become an evening gathering spot for young people that frequently calls for heightened police enforcement. He said raising the fountain’s presence with light and sound from 9 to 10 p.m. each night could help the responders.
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According to Geoff Roehll, chairman of the commission’s Planning, Design and Construction Committee, the fountain already has a sequencing mechanism installed that could be reprogrammed to play music, although the conversion also would demand the purchase of speakers.
“But I don’t think the cost to improve it to that would be significant,” said Roehll, who is checking with the fountain’s vendor to determine the expense.
Commission member Stephanie Penick, who serves on the Riverwalk Foundation, said that group might be interested in allocating some of the donated funds and other resources it oversees to the transformation of the fountain.
“It would fit into our mission, whereas it really doesn’t fall under the commission’s usual (funding responsibilities),” Penick said.
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