A decades-old water fountain in the heart of one of Toronto’s most visited areas was heavily vandalised with graffiti last week, prompting a social media outcry urging the city to do more to preserve public art.
The fountain, called Salmon Run, is located in Bobbie Rosenfeld Park, between the Rogers Centre, Ripley’s Aquarium and the CN Tower.
It was designed by Canadian artist and sculptor Susan Schelle and opened in 1991, less than two years after the completion of what was then called the Skydome.
The fountain includes a tiered waterfall, with oversized bronze salmon positioned to look as if they’re scaling it, symbolizing their journey upstream to spawn each fall.
The fountain’s waterworks have reportedly long been in need of repairs, and although it was operational pre-pandemic, it has sat dry for the last few years, leading to slow deterioration and more recently, dozens of graffiti tags and messages across its walls.
“The extensive tagging is believed to have occurred over the last couple of days and plans for its removal were made by the Public Art Office immediately upon notification. The City of Toronto also has plans for more extensive conservation work on the Salmon Run,” the City said in a statement Monday.
“This work has been delayed due to the pandemic and pending construction of the nearby FlyOver Canada entertainment complex. Planned construction of this complex required a shut down of water supplies in the immediate area, affecting the ability of the Salmon Run public art fountain to be activated.”
The City says the graffiti is scheduled to be removed Tuesday morning.
Former Toronto mayor David Miller tweeted a photo of the defaced fountain on Sunday afternoon, with the message: “Toronto after 12 years of austerity. Private wealth. Public squalor.”
The tweet garnered over 2,000 likes, and many social media users chimed in to voice their displeasure about the fountain’s state of disrepair, with many saying they enjoyed the peaceful ambiance it once brought to its concrete surroundings.
“It was meant as an oasis as the city began to build massive condos,” Schelle told CP24 on Monday.
“The city seems to have serious issues with anything to do with water. For some reason they have trouble with follow through with public art issues.”
Despite the consensus amongst social media users that something should be done about the fountain, there seems to be some disagreement on whether it should be repaired or replaced.
Former city councillor Adam Vaughan said on Twitter that the fountain was built “quickly in a rush,” and that it needs a full rebuild as the water features aren’t able to be repaired.
Issues with the fountain were first discovered in 2011, when a pipe was found to be leaking into a parking garage below it. The problem persisted for a number of years but was eventually addressed prior to the fountain’s most recent shut down.
In their statement, the cty didn’t allude to any ongoing structural problems, saying that the fountain will be operational again once the nearby FlyOver project is complete, which they say is slated for sometime next year.
