THE PROBLEM -- A fountain in Druid Hill Park went dry.
THE BACKSTORY -- The Druid Lake Fountain, built in 1959, has had its share of troubles.
It functioned until 1992 - even when a decomposed body turned up in 18 inches of water in 1969 - but then broke down. It was fixed in 1998, then had to be shut off again.
Then, in 2004, after a $700,000 rehabilitation, the fountain in the lake shot water 12 to 25 feet in the air against a backdrop of red-amber and blue lights. It was hailed as the rebirth of the Reservoir Hill neighborhood, and in some ways part of a rebirth of a city enjoying a comeback from years of crime and abandonment.
But last week, Jack Yates of Charles Village noticed that the fountain, once again, appeared to be broken. "Alas, sometime before Mother's Day of this year, the Brain Trust at the Dept. of Public Works saw fit to turn the fountain off," he wrote in an e-mail to Watchdog. "It has been out of service continuously ever since. It is presently of no use except as a roosting spot for hundreds of seagulls."
Turns out that $700,000 doesn't buy every safeguard. The most recent renovations included moving the control room to the shore so repairs could be made without having to take a boat to the fountain. But no one thought of surge protectors.
So when lightning struck in May, it blew out the circuits, which were ordered and reinstalled. The fountain was back working last week, and the lights were back on yesterday, said Kurt L. Kocher, a Department of Public Works spokesman.
In addition, work crews will have to be retrained to learn how to use the upgraded equipment. And yes, assured public works spokeswoman Cathy Powell, "DPW is purchasing a new surge protection system for the fountain. This part should arrive and be installed within the next two months."
Let's hope there are no more thunderstorms between now and then.
WHO CAN FIX THIS -- Ralph Cullison of the Department of Public Works' Bureau of Water and Wastewater: 410-396-0539. City residents also can call 311 to report problems.
Update
Construction has begun to improve the Maryland Transit Administration bus shelter on St. Paul Street near Penn Station. Readers had complained that the shelter lacked walls or a route map. Sharon Wicker, an MTA spokeswoman, said the advertising company that owns the shelter, CBS Outdoors, started a refurbishment project Friday; it is to be completed in several weeks.