Prefontaine Fountain is a fountain by Carl Frelinghuysen Gould, installed at Prefontaine Place, a small park in the Pioneer Square district of Seattle, Washington, near the intersection of 3rd Avenue and Yesler Way.

Prefontaine Fountain
The fountain in 2010
Map
LocationSeattle, Washington, United States
Coordinates47°36′07″N 122°19′51″W / 47.60194°N 122.33083°W / 47.60194; -122.33083
Inscription detail

Description edit

The circular basin and wall are concrete; the low basin rim has sculptures of turtles. Blue ceramic tiles line the fountain basin.[1]

History edit

The fountain is the city's oldest, completed in 1925, on land deeded to the city in 1912.[2] The park and fountain were dedicated in June 1926 to the late Francis X. Prefontaine, a Catholic priest who built the city's first Catholic church and provided $5,000 for the fountain's construction.[3] The park and fountain were rebuilt during construction of the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel and adjacent Pioneer Square station in the late 1980s, reopening in 1990.[4] The fountain and sidewalk between it and Pioneer Square station have been fenced off since 2023.[5]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Prefontaine Fountain, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  2. ^ "Prefontaine Place". Seattle Parks and Recreation. Archived from the original on April 13, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  3. ^ "Fountain in Memory of Father Prefontaine". The Seattle Times. June 12, 1926. p. 6.
  4. ^ Lane, Bob (June 7, 1990). "Deafening silence: Bus tunnel's done". The Seattle Times. p. B1. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  5. ^ "City Hall Park Reopens After Nearly Two Years, Still a City Asset". The Urbanist. Retrieved April 16, 2024.

External links edit