Highland’s fountain aglow in patriotic colors for July 4, summer

Andrew Sinnock, a part-time parks department employee, cleans the fountain as part of its regular upkeep Monday in Highland’s Downtown Square. LED lights help create the patriotic red, white and blue display currently featured at the fountain, which can best be seen after sunset. (Brittany Blackwell photo)

By Brittany Blackwell
Reporter • Highland’s Downtown Square is aglow with red, white and blue for visitors to enjoy this summer.

Director of parks Brad Koehnmann said the lights are part of an affordable switch to LED lighting in recent years. 

“To replace the colored lenses was more expensive than putting clear lenses in there,” Koehnmann said, who came up with the idea for the upgrade. “What used to be expensive for LEDs 10 or 12 years ago is cheaper now.”

The initiative kicked off in 2020, when aging bulbs and fading colored lenses needed replacement. Rather than purchase new colored lenses, Koehnmann decided to remove the standard PAR38 bulbs and install clear lenses and LED replica bulbs instead.

“It’s just a matter of changing the bulbs to whatever colors we want,” he said. 

Currently, while 48, blue, 60-watt bulbs illuminate the lower glass block section, the top tier of the fountain features red LED bulbs behind clear lenses and the middle section emits white light through clear lenses, creating a patriotic display that is best seen after sunset. 

“It really looks cool when you have a concert up here at night because of the fountain in the background,” he said. 

The city opens the fountain as early as mid-March and closes it as late as Halloween, depending on the weather. Koehnmann expects the current red, white and blue display to stay up through Labor Day, then switch to fall colors. The landmark, which is almost 100 years old, boasted seasonal colors for Halloween last year and Easter colors this spring. 

But the upkeep extends beyond the lighting.

The fountain holds more than 8,000 gallons of water and is checked several times a week. Staff typically perform maintenance on Mondays and Fridays, checking chlorine levels, cleaning filters and removing debris and cutting the surrounding grass on Wednesdays to keep appearances up for the many activities that occur in the square. 

Crews drain the fountain basin about three times a year for cleaning and to change any colored bulbs, while more significant maintenance issues and routine tests will require external support. An automatic system keeps the water level steady and a sensor nearby lowers the spray when it’s windy to help save water. 

Although routine maintenance is straightforward, occasional vandalism creates challenges.

The fountain was built in 1937 for Highland’s centennial celebration. It was renovated during the 1980s and early 2000s but much of the original structure is still intact.