Milwaukee Needs a Grand Fountain

The secluded fountain inside the historic Warner Theater, now the Bradley Symphony Center, was created in 1930. © Ben Tyjeski.

Milwaukee has yet to see the construction of a grand public fountain.

A number of fountains exist throughout the city, but none that could be called grand.

With running, potable water throughout Milwaukee, three rivers flowing through the city and Lake Michigan at its doorstep, a designed spectacle of water may seem unnecessary or even decadent. But the symbolic function of a public fountain can be very powerful.

The eminent designer of tiled fountains, Ernest Batchelder, once referred to the ancient Greek city of Panopeus as an example of why fountains are necessary. “A city without a public fountain of water,” he asked, “is it even a city?”

Such a claim would have ignited discussion in the Milwaukee metro area during the 1920s, a decade that saw the highest number of fountains constructed, mostly with faience tiles. These fountains were not a mere luxury but proof of urban modernity and elegance.

But they lacked visibility. The fountains were not constructed in public spaces but rather were largely indoors or in private gardens. Unless they were a resident or guest of these wealthier homes, Milwaukeeans could have no clue about these artistic treasures.

If only some of this artistic ingenuity, showcasing water as a dramatic and visually pleasing spectacle, were applied to a significant, designed public space, Milwaukee could create a powerful new symbol.

History offers countless examples. From the canals of Ollantaytambo in the Andes to the qanat tunnels of old Persia to the aqueducts of Rome, these creations of the past demonstrate how investment in engineering water has supported public life. Though now archaic, the infrastructure and sites connected to these projects still have a mystique and draw the curious from across the globe.

Art may be argued as secondary to all these feats of engineering, but a well-designed fountain is essential. It can even be the focal point of a city.

Milwaukee’s historic public fountains are few. Hennecke & Co. designed the Courthouse Square Fountain (now missing) and another in front of Soldiers Home. Other fountains without ornamentation are found at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the county courthouse, UW-Milwaukee and the North Point Water Tower.

With the exception of Hennecke’s fountains, none of these creations attempts to be a work of art and they are, at best, rudimentary pools of splashing water. Are they even worthy of being considered a fountain?

The Latin word for pertaining to a spring or fountain, “fontanus,” combines the Latin words “fons” and “annulus” to translate literally in English to “a spring in a ring.” And that is what you witness at too many sites in Milwaukee: soothing but uneventful rings of water.

These fountains draw no crowds to them.

A visit to Chicago offers something quite different. Jaume Plensa’s Crown Fountain is a crown jewel of urban fountains. Crowds are always drawn to the site, spending minutes, hours, even the day around this spectacle. People gather here to relax, play music, laugh, take off their shirt and run around or just listen. Here, in a city where water too often is a commodity for industry to harvest, humanity gets to celebrate the sheer joy of flowing water.

But the tide may be turning for a grand fountain in Milwaukee, especially one that reminds the community of its need to access clean water for play and recreation.

On the corner of Greenfield Avenue and 1st Street, a rainwater garden designed by James Wasley features large spouts dripping water like gargoyles over pools woven between groups of native plantings and trees. Down the road at Harbor View Plaza, a collaboration between Ayres Associates and Quorum Architects has created a playful kind of fountain by pumping water through pools filled with natural stones.

For a metropolis that seeks to claim the title of the “Freshwater Capital” or “Fresh Coast City,” this type of public space is exactly what we need.

But the question of grandness in Milwaukee has yet to be explored. While location and surrounding infrastructure are important criteria, design is equally pivotal in creating something great that attracts the public. The recent designs on Greenfield Avenue show the potential impact of living fountains and natural materials. Chicago’s Crown Fountain shows how the built environment can showcase the human element in design and the sheer impact of its size.

Any prospective site for a new fountain has much to consider, but century-old tiled fountains in this city could be another way to inspire the idea of a grand Milwaukee fountain.

With the historic tiled fountains being mostly private, Urban Milwaukee presents the following images in this special feature of Tile Town. All images are found in the city of Milwaukee, but to respect the privacy of these sites and their owners, the locations are not published for several of the images.

Fountains

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