'Epic Waste Of Money'? No, Darien Says

DARIEN, IL – Darien's fountain on the northeast corner of Cass Avenue and Plainfield Road never goes off, with the water flow freezing in the winter.

Some wonder why.

At last week's City Council meeting, resident Patricia Yurchak asked why the city doesn't turn it off.

In response, Dan Gombac, the city's municipal services director, said the waterfall feature at the clock tower was designed to run 365 days a year.

"Some people like it. Others say, 'Why?'" Gombac said. "It's an attraction. It creates different types of scenes ... with the ice sculpture."

Yurchak said, "That's a different perspective. But to me, it seems like an epic waste of money."

Gombac said no money is wasted because the water is recycled.

City Administrator Bryon Vana said the city usually gets the question about the fountain once or twice a year. He said it was time to address the issue again in the city's weekly newsletter.

A few days later, the city said in the newsletter, "Ice formations will cover the structures and are not harmful to the fountain, but rather will create artistic winterscapes during the freezing temperatures."

On the northwest corner is another fountain. But it is not designed to stay on all year.

"That one would ice up too quick, and it's going to ice up the sidewalk," Gombac said.