Dasha Loskutova passes Fountain Square three or four times a day on her way to class.
The East Lansing High School student, who also is enrolled at MSU, can’t wait to see it when the construction is finished.
“They had an old fountain here before,” she said. “I think people will stroll around it when it’s done.”
The fountain is located at the corner of M.A.C. and Albert avenues, and has been under construction since fall.
Construction on the $27,230 project is expected to be finished in May.
The original fountain was donated to the city and needed work after it was discovered it was leaking into a neighboring parking garage.
When it’s completed, the fountain will have a total redesign, said Lori VanOmmeren, the city’s urban designer.
The fountain will have two jets that will crisscross water streams, and two on the back will squirt water at intermittent times - but there won’t only be a fountain.
A children’s sculpture garden and interacting jets of water for children to play in will accompany the square.
Lights also will be placed in the area, making the fountain a place to go day or night.
“It is going to be a beautiful improvement,” VanOmmeren said. “The community organizers are excited to use it for the events this summer.”
Many other residents can’t wait to see the finished product.
It will be a beautiful addition to the area, nursing freshman Nicole Valitutty said.
“If you’re going on a date you can go over there and make a wish,” she said.
Others see it as a chance for the city to improve what was once seen as a boring part of the downtown.
“The previous fountain was nothing to write home about, it was a fountain,” MSU alumnus James McGaugh said. “This is kind of the main corners of East Lansing. I’m optimistic for what is yet to come.”
McGaugh has lived in East Lansing since 1990 and said the construction is kind of an inconvenience, but it does serve a purpose.
“I’ve seen it change throughout the years - this is more industrialized,” he said.
City officials also have been looking forward to seeing the water spout from the square once again.
“It is taking a little longer than we hoped,” Mayor Pro Tem Sam Singh said. “(But) anything we can do to enhance the downtown and have amenities and have merchants as well as community members is exciting for the city.”
Once it is completed, the downtown will look fantastic and people will be able to enjoy it, Councilmember Beverly Baten said.
“It will be great for the businesses and lovely for the art fair,” she said. “It will be more green space for the downtown and something more for the people to enjoy.”
