The majestic Centennial Fountain in Peterborough’s Little Lake will be turned back on for the 2021 season beginning Wednesday, May 26th.
Peterborough city council’s general committee voted unanimously on Monday (May 10) to support a motion by councillor Keith Riel that rescinds a resolution made last April that kept the fountain inactive during the pandemic.
Last January, councillor Kim Zippel brought forward a motion to reduce operation of the fountain from four to two months a year — July and August — in response to the climate change crisis. Zippel had argued that reducing the fountain’s operation would reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and save around $40,000 per year.
After a public outcry, including an online petition signed by more than 2,000 people, council asked city staff to come up with an alternate plan. That alternate plan proposed running the fountain for 12 hours per day instead of 14, saving the city around $11,400 which would be credited to the city’s climate change reserve.
When considering the plan in mid-April last year after the city declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, council voted instead to keep the fountain turned off during 2020 given the economic impact of the pandemic.
Councillor Henry Clarke, who made the original motion to keep the fountain turned off, supported resuming its operation for the 2021 season.
“Nobody ever thought it would be shut down for this long,” Clarke said. “It’s been a horrendous thing. The community is tired, so maybe to say we’re going to turn on the fountain to give them something to look at, to celebrate, and to be happy about, would be a very good thing for the community.”
“I never supported switching it off,” councillor Dean Pappas said in support of Riel’s motion. “I thought we needed to give people hope and give them a reason to walk around outside … I’m voting to give people hope again.”
Councillor Stephen Wright also supported Riel’s motion.
“I’m going to take a long walk from my home in the north end just to go look at the fountain and walk back home, because it signals hope that we’re rounding the corner on this pandemic,” he said.
While the fountain will operate until Thanksgiving as in a regular year, two elements of the April 2020 resolution would remain in effect: the fountain will run 12 instead of 14 hours per day and any operational savings from the reduced hours will be credited to the city’s climate change reserve.
