May 31, 1934
“Bigger Pool Assured for The Square — With Special Steps and Graduated Depth,” The Villager reported in a Page 1 story, of plans to renovate the Washington Sq. fountain as a wading pool for kids, which, in fact, saved the famed fountain from extinction: “With the topsoil removed from the Washington Square fountain, work is proceeding rapidly toward completing the structure as a wading pool for local children. Plans for remodeling the fountain are being drawn now by Allyn Jennings, landscape architect for the Park Department…. Activities at the fountain have puzzled Villagers as they watched laborers shovel in top soil and shovel it out again. This work was being done under a plan of demolishing the fountain and creating a flower bed in its place. Edward G. Steinert, secretary of the Washington Square Association, protested against this plan on the grounds that Villagers considered the old fountain a landmark here and did not wish it destroyed. Mr. Steinert said that flower beds could be more appropriately placed in other portions of the park, without scrapping the fountain and thereby removing the hot weather bathing resort of many children in the community. It was due to Mr. Steinert’s intervention, Villagers believe, that the fountain was saved and plans drawn for its modernization.”
