Completion of Kenilworth fountain restoration now targeted for spring

Hope is springing eternal in the Village of Kenilworth as officials are now targeting sometime in the spring season of 2021 for the completion of the town’s landmark fountain. 

Village Manager Patrick Brennan told The Record the stone for the new fountain has been delivered to the fabricator. He added that the project is now waiting for decent weather to move forward. 

Although conditions are mild most of this week, Brennan said the village probably won’t complete it this week and officials are still looking at a spring installation date. 

As previously reported by The Record, restoration of Kenilworth’s signature fountain was made possible by a six-figure donation from an anonymous local family. Prior to receiving the $100,000 donation, village officials explored options to replace the fountain for the past year because it was “beyond repair.” 

Additionally, officials had hoped to replace the fountain before the village’s 125th anniversary next year but the cost for doing so did not fit in Kenilworth’s budget.

The donation changed the project’s outlook. 

“The fountain replacement would not have happened without the donation,” Brennan previously told The Record. “We have some other capital needs in front of us and I don’t think the board would have approved. 

“Without their generosity, it wouldn’t have happened. In Kenilworth, it follows a line of just very generous residents. The Village Hall building, the historical society building, was actually donated by a family, so I think it’s part of the nature of many of our residents to give back.” 

The village first targeted a completion date for the project in late October or the start of November; however the timeline has since shifted and is reliant on the weather at this point. 

“Now that the provider actually has the fountain stone in hand, it’s really weather-dependent,” Brennan said. “We figure the temperature (has to be right) for the epoxy to set up as he glues the stone together.”