December 9, 2002
By Lucille Davie
THE City has opened its coffers and come to the rescue of the 65-year-old Zoo Lake fountain restoration project with a donation that means that the fountain will be shining in green and red lights before Christmas.
The fountain, built in 1937 and which for some years has had a slight tilt, was in serious need of restoration. The Arts, Culture and Heritage Department has donated R100 000 to the initiative of the Zoo Lake Users' Committee to restore the city's much-loved attraction.
The Committee had raised R100 000 and this was matched rand-for-rand by the City, allowing for "professional restoration". The water level of the Lake has been lowered by half a metre to enable workmen to clean and repaint the structure.
The project includes re-installing the original red and green lights that illuminated the spray and that early Joburgers remember brightening the Lake.
The 16 lights below the rim of the fountain will be replaced with waterproof light fittings that use less power, thus reducing their running costs. The original mechanism that operated the water jets and co-ordinated them with the lights has been lost, thought to be dumped into the lake when the fountain was renovated eight years ago.
The central concrete fountain base needs repainting once several layers of paint have been removed. It is to be painted a grey-brown colour and then waterproofed. The concrete structure is still in good condition, and was possibly not painted originally.
Zoo Lake offers boating and a tranquil retreat for Joburgers
Once the water level dropped, it was clear that the fountain's concrete base was very unsafe. This apron has subsequently been removed by underwater demolition experts, and will be replaced by a stainless steel landing.
There is a pond on the roof of the structure. This will have to be re-waterproofed with fibreglass which will be built up on one side to compensate for the 5mm tilt. It is considered impractical to try to correct the tilt.
Harry Visser, contracts manager at construction company ReVamp, says "things are going pretty well", and there are "no insurmountable problems".
He describes the project as "very interesting" because there "are not many fountains around that need to be restored". A wooden pont on empty oil drums has been constructed alongside the boathouse and ferries workmen across to the central fountain.
It is expected that the fountain will be restored by the end of the week, depending the weather.
