Dismantled South Bend fountain could get new life

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - An expert has started looking into whether a 28-foot-tall fountain that stood in a South Bend park decades ago can be brought back to life.

Parts making up the top two-thirds of the Studebaker Electric Fountain have been in storage at the Center for History since a family donated the pieces in 2009.

The South Bend Tribune reports the fountain donated by the Studebaker company's president in 1906 was illuminated by colored electric lights with figures of turtles and cherubs riding dolphins, each spurting streams of water. It stood in Howard Park until 1941 when it was dismantled.

Fountains expert Jeff Horvath says the surviving parts are in good condition and that he's working on an estimate of what restoration might cost.