Revisiting the Fountain Wars

Published Jul 26 2007, 08:08 PM by Adam Reilly

Earlier this month--after a Herald story on Boston's dessicated fountains was quickly followed by a Globe story on Boston's water-wasting fountains--I suggested that Globe reporter Donovan Slack might have taken her description of Mayor Tom Menino's love of fountains in general (she called the mayor a "self-described 'nut for fountains'") from the Herald piece, which was written by Michele McPhee.

Alas, I was wrong. Here, courtesy of a vigilant Media Log reader, is the relevant passage, from an April 22, 2004 story by Slack:

Paris has the sparkling Trocadero Gardens. In Rome, the great sea god Triton blows cascades through his conch shell into rippling pools below.

Boston, by contrast, has never been much on fountains. Across the city there are a grand total of 23, and many of those haven't worked for years, while Kansas City has 160, for example.

But with a few months to go until out-of-town guests arrive for the Democratic National Convention, Mayor Thomas M. Menino says he wants the city's fountains spouting again.

"I'm a nut for fountains," he said in a recent interview. "It's part of the beautification of the city." [emph. added]

My apologies to Slack and the Globe--both for failing to source this comment properly, and for crediting the Herald with early ownership of the fountain beat.

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1 Comments

don.saklad@gmail.com said:

What's notable about the Boston Globe's Slack is not writing enough about the routine flouting of sunshine open public meetings principles and the routine flouting of FOI freedom of information public records principles by the City Council's stenographic services vendor, by the City Council, by the City Clerks office and at other city departments. Another example of how journalists of City Hall have been intimidated in their reporting in order to keep the contacts that have cultivated.

August 1, 2007 3:59 AM