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With the highest bid for a new Peace Fountain falling well over budget, Windsor City Council is reconsidering its decision to replace the riverside attraction with a winter-proof fountain that resembles it.
During a closed meeting earlier this month, the city council voted to negotiations with a proponent who could have built a replacement fountain — one that would remain in the water year-round instead of being taken out each fall — for significantly more than the budgeted $8.1 million.
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Instead, city staff were instructed to explore “cost-effective options” for a new fountain. Those options will be discussed at Monday’s council meeting — more than two years after local politicians gave the green light to replace the old water feature.
Acting city engineer Mark Winterton told the Windsor Star that responses to the city’s initial request for proposals for a fountain exceeded the project’s budget by a “significant amount.” However, because negotiations were ongoing, he could not provide a figure.
“Council’s request to winterise the fountain in its location in the bay presented a number of significant challenges,” Winterton said.
“That really made it significantly more complicated from a pricing and operational perspective.”
After 45 years in Reaume Park, the Charles Brooks Memorial Peace Fountain, the largest and only international floating fountain in the world, was detached for the final time in the fall of 2023 and transported by boat to Lakeview Marina.
In May 2022, the council voted to replace the fountain, which had long since outlived its expected lifespan, with a lookalike made from parts available in Canada and the U.S. that can remain in the river year-round. The existing fountain had become expensive to maintain—about $200,000 a year—and replacement parts from Europe were expensive and difficult to obtain.
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After the council decided to scrap the existing request for proposals and seek a new way forward, the board came up with two other fountain options: a floating fountain with no winter component in the water and a land-based fountain with sprinklers that spray water into the bay.
The floating fountain would “likely result in significant savings in its implementation,” a staff report said, but would still pose challenges with in-water maintenance, and the fountain would have to be removed from the river each fall.
The land-based option would be easier to maintain, but may not immediately result in cost savings.
The council will discuss both options next week.
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The change of plans means a replacement fountain will not be operational in 2025 as previously planned. Pending the council’s decision, Winterton said the new fountain is likely to be in place by 2026.
First installed in 1978, the fountain projected water 70 feet (21.3 meters) high and featured a synchronized light show. The fountain easily outlived its expected 20-year lifespan.
The fountain is a floating monument commemorating Charles Brooks, the founder of CAW Local 444, who was murdered in January 1977 by a fired Chrysler employee.
In 1978, the fountain cost $562,000 and had an expected lifespan of two decades. In 1988, the fountain underwent $450,000 in repairs to extend its lifespan.
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