Savannah's Forsyth Park fountain returns after makeover

Caption

Workers in the process of reassembling the Forsyth Park fountain after a monthslong restoration.

Credit: Contributed by Allison Mallow

On Tuesday, workers returned the iconic Forsyth Park fountain to its home in the heart of Savannah, Ga., after a monthslong restoration makeover.

In June, the fountain was dismantled and transported about 300 miles away to Alexander City, Ala., where the fountain was restored piece by piece.

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The fountain was built in 1858, when it was cast in small pieces and bolted together since welding was not a common practice at the time.

Workers had to tag many of the fountain's pieces to know where they go back together, like a puzzle, once the fountain was ready to be reassembled, as GPB's Benjamin Payne previously reported.

Local Savannah residents gathered at the park as workers were putting the fountain back.

"I live one block from here; I missed it," a Savannah man said. "You get used to seeing it and when it’s not there, you don’t realize how you take something for granted then it’s gone. It looks great. They did a wonderful job as compared to the photographs I took when they were taking it out.

"The fountain was ready to be refurbished," he added.

Another resident was happy to see that the newly restored fountain appeared to have more detail than before.

"I’m super excited that it’s back," she said. "I was excited for the restoration project because when I read about how the fountain had basically just been getting a new coat of paint every year for 40 years. I thought, ‘Wow this is going to bring back a lot of detail’ and that’s actually what I was standing here admiring."

The fountain still needs a few months of work before it is fully functional again, but the city of Savannah expects the fountain to be turned back on around early November.

Savannah College of Art and Design students Joshua Watkins and Madison McNally contributed to this story.