New iconic landmark coming to Yuma’s historic downtown
News 11's Adonis Albright speaks with the City of Yuma's Parks & Rec Director about the new project
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A new project is about to get underway in Yuma's historic downtown to replace the water fountain that has been one of several attractions for more than a decade now. The City of Yuma set aside $10,000 to build a new project in its place, and construction is expected to begin in June.
"At the end of 2020, the Arts and Culture division of the City of Yuma began an open recruitment for anyone interested in helping produce and construct this fountain, and now in May of 2021 that process has been complete. Here in the next few days construction will begin with hopefully a grand opening", said Jason Nau, the Parks & Rec Director with the City of Yuma.
The original fountain located at 224 S. Main St. started to fall apart last year, and the city began taking submissions for concepts to replace it. Corey Cowan, with Degree Mechanical of Yuma, was selected as the finalist.
“Corey Cowan, who is the person responsible behind this - not only is he going to be able to turn around the project so quickly, but he also elected to make sure that the money budgeted for this fountain - he’s going to be doing it for free so that that money can be reallocated to a new art project in our community.”
The project will feature a roughly 20 foot metal saguaro cactus along with a prickly pear cactus. As pictured above in the concept art, the fountain will also be surrounded by rocks. According to Nau, this piece will best represent the city's desert environment that it's known for.
“I think that the community has been really excited to have another art piece, something that’s iconic for them to enjoy and showcase. When people come to Yuma, one of the things that we are well known for is our public art, and this fountain will continue with that great story that we’re trying to share with the community and visitors", said Nau.
Construction on the project is expected to only take a few weeks and finalized by the end of June.
