City Park Alliance

Fountain shows of the Electric Fountain will begin again on Friday, May 22, 2009 and continue throughout the summer. The new fountain on Ferril Lake in City Park was dedicated August 19, 2008 in time for the 2008 DNC and just over 100 years after the original fountain was completed on May 30, 1908. The original fountain was supported by Mayor Robert Speer’s City Beautiful plan and the Democratic National Convention coming to Denver during the summer of 1908. The fountain was a centerpiece of life in Denver, drawing thousands of visitors to watch the water and light shows while listening to concerts in City Park. The fountain, which predates the Disney and Las Vegas era of show fountains by over sixty years, was created by engineer Frederic W. Darlington. It was called the Prismatic Electric Fountain because of the rainbow of colored lighting effects created by the special apparatus patented by Darlington in the late 1890’s.

Toward the end of the 20th century, necessary repairs became too frequent and the fountain shows were discontinued. After multiple attempted repairs, the deteriorating fountain was torn down and a 20-month project to build a historically accurate replica of the original fountain began in January 2007. The original Darlington Electric Fountain in City Park was the last known surviving, relatively intact example of Darlington’s work when it was demolished. Denver is the only city with a Darlington Electric Fountain to undertake the daunting task of creating a historically accurate yet modern version of his original work.

The new Electric Fountain vault was designed to match the dimensions of the original fountain based on measurements taken before the demolition. The new fountain vault is constructed with re-bar and a special mix of concrete for strength. The new fountain features the 12 water display effects of the original fountain, but there are now three times as many automatic valves to give dramatic new flexibility in controlling the displays. The new fountain, constructed at a cost of $3.2 million, is run by computer software. In keeping with Denver’s greener image, the fountain uses LED lights that consume about 80 percent less energy than incandescent lighting would require. These state-of-the-are lights are saving over 40,000 Watts of power during the peak demand point of a fountain show.

The fountain recycles between 600 and 4,000 gallons of Ferril Lake water per minute, depending on which water features are active and how high they shoot. The center geyser is designed to shoot to a height of 90 feet. Along with providing visual entertainment, operation of the fountain also aerates the lake water, which reduces algae growth and is good for the fish stocked in the lake.

The Prismatic Electric Fountain shows will be every 5 -10 minutes from 7p.m. to 11p.m. with lighted shows starting at dusk. During the day, the fountain will change patterns every 5 minutes with short fountain shows on the hour.