After undergoing about a year of painstaking reconstruction, the fountain at the heart of Old Towne Orange’s Plaza Park has been restored.
City Councilmember Arriana Barrios, who represents the area, had the pleasure of flipping the switch to bring the fountain to life again during a celebratory re-opening Wednesday evening. The rest of the City Council marked the moment by tossing coins into the water.
“We are fortunate in Orange to not only have a rich heritage,” Mayor Dan Slater said in his opening remarks, “but to have that heritage anchored by an iconic and unique feature, our plaza fountain.”
A speeding vehicle plowed into the fountain in March 2023, destroying a section of the tile exterior. It was the latest collision with the traffic circle that features the park and the historic fountain.
In response, the city has also “installed a series of traffic-rated bollards at the entrances to Plaza Park as well as made modification to the park lighting and to the entrances of the circle in the plaza to deter vehicles from making incursions into Plaza Park,” Charlene Cheng, Orange’s public affairs and information manager, said in an email.
Safety improvements had been planned before last year’s collision, and had just gotten underway when the car launched into the fountain. In September 2022, the Orange City Council had approved spending about $310,000 on enhancing protections for the park.
The fountain in the center of Plaza Park was damaged by a car on Monday, March 13, 2023, in Orange , CA.(Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
OC Supervisors Don Wagner and Vicente Sarmiento donated $200,000 and $25,000, respectively, from their discretionary funds to help the city of Orange with the repairs, which ended up costing about $222,000, officials said.
“When the accident happened, it was an easy call…for us representing Orange to say we’re in,” Wagner said. “We want to help because we know how important this is, not just to the history of Orange County, but to the today of Orange County.”
Plaza Park, designed in 1886, is described by the city as the “historic heart” of Orange. And officials wanted it’s fountain restored to its original design.
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The city’s historic preservation consultant provided guidance on the reconstruction and repair of the fountain. The city tried to keep as much of the original landmark as possible and a historic conservationist treated and cleaned the remaining tile and repaired any damage and cracks. New tiles were color matched to mirror the existing ones.
Mark McCandless, grandson of the original tile designer Charles McCandless, installed the refreshed tiles. Mark said he was able to use his grandfather’s original tools for the installation.
Sarmiento said it now looks like the fountain he remembers growing up. From the shops to the restaurants, he said the plaza has a lot of multicultural influences that make it not only the heart of the city, but the heart of the county.
“To us, it has a history, it has a present, and we’re living that right now,” Sarmiento said. “But, we know it has a really bright future and a long path of people who are going to be enjoying it.”
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