UCC fountain glistens again after three years
Many students and staff have been wondering what happened to one of the staples of the campus and why it had been off for so long. “It’s symbolic. The fountain shut down at the start of the pandemic, and now that we are back it’s up and running,” Dan Ruch, the enrollment and transfer advisor, said.
Jim Epley, the maintenance lead said, “The reason the fountain had been off for so long is because when Tapʰòytʰaʼ Hall was being built, the sump pump was severed and flooded the controls and electrical equipment.” “The repairs were not terrible to make. It only took about 20 hours of work. We had some guys dig a hole to access the electrical and add in a new pipe to go to the left side of Tapʰòytʰaʼ Hall,” Epley said. The fountain now uses a storm drain on the left side of Tapʰòytʰaʼ Hall so it wont flood again.
Epley has been encouraged by the response to the fountain’s return. “Whenever I was by the fountain, I would constantly be asked when the fountain was going to be working again, and it means a lot to me because so many students were excited to see it up and running again,” said Epley.
Jadon Ringun, a computer science major, said, “The fountain is serene and peaceful. It has a good ambiance, and it helps me relax.”
Now that the fountain has been restored to its former glory, it will be on display from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day.
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