Sounds of Missouri State University’s Carillon atop Meyer Library are accompanied by those of power tools renovating neighboring Glass Hall, along with the bustle of students passing by.
Missing at the moment is the splash of water at John Q. Hammons Fountains, centrally located on MSU’s West Mall. As of now the basin is only a little wet from the rain, but by next week the beloved fountain will be up and running.
Leonard A. Haymans III is the general mechanic for the north zone of campus, which makes him Missouri State’s “Fountain Guy.” He’s preparing the fountain for its opening ceremony.
“We start with checking out our lights, making sure our lights are in shape…cleaning out underneath the lamps, and then you got two intakes here, we’ll lift these up, we’ll clean out all the intakes and basically clean up the tiers as we go up…"
It doesn’t take long to realize the scope of Haymans’ job to keep this fountain in working order.
"We’ll clean the bottom, we’ve had an ongoing battle trying to keep the bottom cleaned, and it’s shaping up like it should be a pretty good year this year.”
Hammons Fountains usually shut off in October, and reopen in April, this year on the sixth. While for students the fountains are a nice place by which to relax, there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. Haymans took me a few steps over to the pump house.
Inside are all the water pumps and filters that keep the fountain working. Haymans says about 200,000 gallons of water flow through thanks to 50 horsepower motors that power its water jets, along with a chlorinator that’s in the process of being updated this year. He also described the process of filling up the fountain.
“It’ll start pumping up through the top, and then down through the tiers. It’s a two day operation to achieve that, and then once that gets up we’ll go through, kind of fine tune it, make sure everything’s looking good.”
Gary Wells, the north zone foreman and Haymans’ boss, commended his employee for superb upkeep of the fountains, and expressed excitement for next week’s celebration.
“The opening ceremony last year was a lot of fun, we were able to shut down the pumps, and President Smart actually came out, and he kind of did his ‘magic wave’ and we brought the pumps back on, so it was a lot of fun. It’s really neat when Clif gets involved with everything going on, and the kids just love it."
Assistant director for Facilities Management, Gary Chorn, says the university is exploring added LED lights to the fountains, as well as improving the coating and the foundation of the nozzles.
“We understand this is a great feature on our campus, and that the student’s really like it, and we want to do our best to make it look as good as we can and operate as good as we can.”
Chorn added that if students have any suggestions for improving the fountains, they’re open to them.
The last few steps of fountain preparation, says Haymans, includes cleaning the filters and strainers, and ensuring water treatment supplies are in stock.
With the fountains about to come back online, Haymans offers an answer to a common question he receives: Yes, you can put your feet in the fountain, he says. But don’t let your dogs play in it.
“That’s what it’s all about, enjoying the day and enjoying the campus.”
The Hammons Fountains Opening Ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, April 6th from 11-2 PM.