Talks are underway to secure the required funding to refurbish a popular water feature in Liverpool city centre. First installed more than two decades ago, the Williamson Square fountains have been off more than they have been on in the last few years.
Background and History
The ECHO revealed earlier this year how testing had begun on the £1.1m fountains which are owned by Liverpool Council. When they were first installed back in 2004, the fountains were the first of its kind to be placed in Liverpool for 30 years.
Now the local authority has confirmed discussions are underway that could bring the fountains back to life. Made up of a double arch of water that rose out of the pavement at variable heights of up to 12ft, at night, the fountain was also turned on with a blaze of changing colours.
Assessment and Future Plans
In February, officials from the Liverpool BID Company began assessing if the fountains have a future. When they were installed 22 years ago, they formed part of a £5.75m transformation of Williamson Square which included new granite paving. A poem by Mersey scribe Roger McGough features on the metal grid on the theme of water.
However, the fountains spent more than a year out of action after they flooded in the summer of 2008. They were turned back on in June 2009. In 2013, it emerged the display had become clogged up after temporary food vendors had poured boiling hot fat down the grid. It was also the subject of a £100,000 legal fee row over who would pay for repairs.
Next Steps
In February, sources confirmed to the ECHO how tests had been carried out to see if they are still a viable, working fountain. In 2024, the Liverpool BID Company’s Williamson Square activation study set out how stakeholders were keen to bring the display back to life. That document said it only requires “relative minor maintenance and could easily be able to brought back into use.”
Tests by engineers have marked what sources have described as the “first step in a very long journey” which will establish their working order and what might be needed to reactivate them. Costs will also be worked out off the back of the tests. No firm date has been established for the fountains to be switched back on permanently at this stage.
In a statement, a Liverpool Council spokesperson said: “An assessment of the repairs needed to bring the Williamson Square fountains has been carried out, commissioned by Liverpool BID Company. Discussions are now under way in relation to next steps and securing funding to pay for ongoing maintenance.”
