During my conversation with former Meadowbrook Mall Property Manager Marcello Lalama for last week’s blog on Gorant Chocolates (which had a predecessor called Mr. Charles Chocolates – thank you Melissa Riggs), we stumbled across something else unique.

 

As Lalama told me about the business that filled in after Gorant, he mentioned about the storefront being extended and close to the former sunken center court that was host to a fountain. The fountain was almost certainly original to the mall when it opened in Bridgeport in 1983. In fact, it was original to most malls at that time.

 

“It was a feature in all of the malls (Cafaro Company, the current owner) we had,” said Lalama. “When I got there, the fountain was there. One thing that was different with it was that it wasn’t terribly big. In fact, it was so low you couldn’t run the pressure extremely high, or the water would splash out.”

 

The water pressure or the diminutive nature of the fountain is not what caught my attention for this blog. Rather, it was something else he mentioned that seemed a bit unique.

 

I guess I figured that when the sunken floor was made level that the water fountain was destroyed. I also figured that the associated mechanical pit that addressed the infrastructure needed for operations was also laid to waste.

 

My assumptions were wrong. Lalama’s comments proved it. And certainly, the comments caught me off guard.

 

The water fountain still exists. The mechanical pit was not melted down for scrap. They both live.

 

That, of course, leads one to wonder just where on earth a fountain would go to after it was no longer being used. What is even more puzzling is what do you do with the infrastructure that makes up a mechanical pit for likely very outdated items.

 

“It never left; the fountain or the mechanical pit,” said Lalama. “When we did a major renovation of the mall that got rid of the step-down area where the fountain was at, we just covered the pit up.”

 

Covered it up?

 

“That’s what happened. It was filled with concrete and leveled out and eventually tile was put in place,” said Lalama. “The mechanical pit was actually already below grade and it’s still there. It is near the information stand that is still near center court.”

 

Lalama remembered the area was initially covered with a stage. Today, it is either open space with sky lights shining down, or the lights shine down on temporary or occasionally semi-permanent kiosks doing business.

 

Today, most malls do not have fountains. In fact, public fountains are a rarity as they used to be sprinkled inside major businesses and even small and big cities. Clarksburg used to have a highly popular fountain on the corner of Second Street and Main Street, but eventually the repairs and lack of finding the equipment led to its demise.

 

The demise was made earlier at the Clarksburg fountain due to kids – and probably more than a fair share of adults – dumping laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, or other bubble-making additives to the water. In Clarksburg, it led to the fountain being shut down way earlier than it would have, even though it was recently demolished to set the stage for a new United States Post Office on the same parcel.

 

“I remember we did a big sand sculpture event and sand got into the fountain, which was a problem. The real problem, as far as maintenance, were kids throwing soap in there and it just became too much of a problem,” said Lalama.

 

The problem still exists but has been tucked away like many people do with real problems. It has been buried but is just beneath the surface.

 

The amazing thing is that decades later, I learned it was not trashed. I learned it was never moved.

 

And now you know, too.