By Danielle Nelson

*This article is posted on The Express Times website.

Guests surround the fountain after it is unveiled. The College Hill Neighborhood Association unveiled and dedicated a three-tiered, cast-iron fountain in Nevin Park on June 24, 2014, at East Lafayette and Mixsell streets in Easton. This new fountain is being installed to pay tribute to the original fountain that was the centerpiece of Easton’s Centre Square beginning in the 1860s. – Troy Strozeski

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What was just a vision 10 years ago turned into a reality today.

The College Hill Neighborhood Association unveiled a three-tiered, cast-iron fountain in Easton’s Nevin Park. The new fountain at East Lafayette and Mixsell streets on College Hill is a re-dedication of a historic Easton landmark.

The restoration of the fountain comes after the previous fountain, which College Hill residents called beehives, had not produced water since the 1970s.

With the leadership of Megan McBride and Phyllis Johnson, the association’s Nevin Park Committee organized garden tours in the city to fund the fountain.

After eight years of planning, association member Karen Johnson said that during the past two years organizers got more proactive.

“There were a few fellows who got actively involved, who were retired engineers, planning people,” Johnson said. “They had expertise none of us ladies happened to have and they got involved as a subcommittee, and we still cannot believe it.”

The fountain will pay tribute to the original fountain, which was Easton’s Centre Square attraction in the late 1800s. It was moved to Nevin Park in 1899 to make way for the Soldiers and Sailors monument, which honors local Civil War veterans.

The original fountain fell into disrepair during the Great Depression, and in World War II the bronze and iron was melted down to support war efforts.

In the 1950s, the stone fountain was installed.

The installation of the new fountain cost $200,000, which Johnson said was raised from “private fundraising, larger donators and grants from matching funds through the city and county.”

The association says its next task is to install a Nevin Park Fountain Walkway.

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