New water fountain to be installed in Bella Vista park

Bardascino Park at 10th and Carpenter streets is getting a new water fountain thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Bardascino Park Friends and the Friends of Bardascino Park, who together raised approximately $3000.

The Park Friends group originally put up $1500 for the new purchase and the Friends of Bardascino Park group matched that amount with donations from neighbors and the help of a bocce tournament fundraiser where all proceeds were donated to the fundraising effort. After about 5 weeks, they managed to reach their goal.

The water fountain currently in the park has a broken spigot—a major problem since the park relies on it to water the plants throughout. The new fountain will serve as a much-needed replacement. Since winter is approaching, the new fountain won’t be installed until the spring.

A new fountain for the park is a relatively small improvement, but according to Carla Puppin, the president of Friends of Bardascino Park, they hope to be able to do a larger-scale update to the park in the future. The last major renovation happened in 2003, turning the park from primarily concrete to a better community gathering space with more greenery. The next big goal for the park would be to install pedestrian level lighting, which according to Puppin, would cost about $25,000 to $30,000.

–Taylor Farnsworth, @tfarnsworth3