Renovations are in progress on Kansas City’s most photographed fountain. Miller Creek Park Fountain, formerly JC Nichols Memorial Fountain, on the Country Club Plaza, which was dyed blue this past October in honor of the Kansas City Royals’ epic World Series run, is undergoing substantial renovations this offseason. The Waters Edge Aquatic Design team is honored to be a part of this exciting project. The City commissioned our engineers and designers to ensure the historic fountain’s renovations are adequately designed and restored.
Miller Creek Park Fountain was originally named Mackay Fountain on the Harbor Hills estate in New York for the Mackay family. Due to the stock market crash in 1929, the Harbor Hills estate went into ruins, and the fountain was vandalized. Marjorie and Morton Singer, a resident nearby, bought one of the original dolphin sculptures from the Mackay estate. Eventually, the Singers retired in Florida, where one of the original dolphin sculptures resided for years.
The remaining sculptures in the Harbor Hills estate made their way to Kansas City in 1959. The fountain was rebuilt and later named the JC Nichols Fountain, which is now known as the Miller Creek Park Fountain. All of the sculptures were accounted for except the one owned by the Singers. Local Kansas City artist Herman Frederick Simon recreated a dolphin sculpture to replace the original one.
In 2008, Kansas City eventually took ownership of the missing dolphin sculpture that belonged to the Singers. As part of the renovation, the “missing” dolphin will be replaced in its original location after more than 50 years, and the replica will be moved and displayed by a new sidewalk addition.
Miller Creek Park Fountain underwent an extensive renovation, which included restoring the entire fountain basin, cleaning all of the statuary and capstones, installing one of the original dolphin sculptures that had been missing for over 50 years, and replacing all pedestals on which the sculptures sit. In addition, there will be a new sidewalk extension on the NE side of the fountain, which displays the dolphin replica. Here, visitors will be able to see the replica up close in person and read about the history of Kansas City’s most iconic fountain.
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