West Fairmount Park’s John Welsh Memorial Fountain has reboot planned

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The John Welsh Memorial Fountain in West Fairmount Park is millions of dollars closer to revitalization after decades of lying in dormant disrepair.

Located across from what is now the Please Touch Museum, the fountain for years served as a community gathering spot following its construction nearly 140 years ago. Philadelphians, however, have not seen the once-beloved fountain flow in about half a century.

But now, a plan to restore the fountain to its former glory is moving forward with a newly announced $2.3 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Multimodal Transportation Fund. The money, state and local officials have said, will be used to bolster pedestrian infrastructure around the fountain to allow people to safely access the site.

That development comes as part of a larger plan to rejuvenate the Welsh Memorial Fountain, designs for which the Fairmount Park Conservancy announced last year following rounds of community engagement in 2023 and 2024. The fountain’s forthcoming reboot comes via a joint effort between the conservancy, the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, and the Philadelphia Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability.

Here is what you need to know:

Where did the Welsh Fountain come from?

The Welsh Fountain officially dates back to June 23, 1887, when it was presented to the Fairmount Park Commission, according to Inquirer reports from the time. It was named in honor of John Welsh, a well-known Philadelphia diplomat who was instrumental in the 1876 Centennial Exhibition, which had taken place in the city more than a decade before.

Welsh, who was also among the first Fairmount Park Commission leaders, died in April 1886 at age 80, prompting colleagues and friends to fund the construction of the fountain honoring his memory. It was erected in West Fairmount Park on a site across from what at the time was Memorial Hall, constructed as part of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition celebrating the United States of America’s 100th birthday. Today, it is the Please Touch Museum.

Interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Welsh, a Philadelphia native, rose to prominence as a merchant. In addition to serving as a Fairmount Park commissioner, he was an ambassador to Great Britain under President Rutherford B. Hayes, a University of Pennsylvania trustee, and an instrumental figure in the establishment of Episcopal Hospital, among other philanthropic efforts.

An inscription on Welsh Fountain referred to Welsh as “an honor citizen whose benevolence, patriotism, and ability made him a leader and helper in good works.” In 1887, The Inquirer lauded this description, but noted that Welsh’s works in the city were “likely to outlive and always seem more beautiful than any inscription that could be written.”

How long has the Welsh Fountain been off?

The exact date the fountain last operated was not immediately clear, but it has not flowed in decades. Archival coverage from The Inquirer and Daily News mentions persistent operational issues with the fountain.

In 1954, for example, The Inquirer reported that the fountain was to be one of three city water features repaired that year. By then, coverage from the time indicates, it had been “dry for years” and may have been “idle since the turn of the century.”

Whatever repairs may have been made, however, appear to not have stood the test of time. According to the Fairmount Park Conservancy, the fountain was “last on and in good working condition” in the 1950s and ’60s. And in 1990, The Inquirer reported that by that time, the Welsh Fountain had not functioned in more than 25 years.

Over the years, however, there have been some efforts made to beautify the fountain and its surrounding grounds. In 1989, for example, students from Lincoln High School used $55,000 in grants to spruce up various areas of Fairmount Park, including Welsh Fountain.

“The Welsh Fountain, now pretty and trim, sits idly,” The Inquirer reported in 1989. “The park has no money to fix the plumbing.”

What’s going on with the rehab now?

In 2023, the conservancy began efforts to solicit input from neighborhood residents and park users about what they would like to see happen. The goal, The Inquirer reported that year, was to create a safe, green space around the fountain that included improved, landscaping, seating, and walkways, as well as a functioning water feature.

The effort continued in 2024 with additional community engagement. That year, the William Penn Foundation issued a $5 million grant to be used in restoration efforts.

And last year, the conservancy unveiled designs for the revamped fountain area created by architecture group Nelson Byrd Woltz. Per those designs, the project will include not only a working fountain, but new trees and plants, restored pedestrian walkways, new signage, and other public art features.

In total, the project is expected to cost about $18 million, said Tony Sorrentino, Fairmount Park Conservancy CEO. The conservancy is “pursuing all options” for additional funding, a spokesperson said. The newly announced $2.3 million in state funding, Sorrentino added, is earmarked for streetscape, traffic calming, and pedestrian safety improvements as part of the overall rehabilitation of the fountain. Other pedestrian safety improvements have already been made in the area along Parkside Avenue, including the addition of roundabouts and other car-speed-reduction measures.

“The community input shaping this project identified multimodal safety as a high priority and necessary component of the reimagined landscape and fountain refurbishment, because the fountain area is close to high-speed thoroughfares,” Sorrentino said.

Construction, Sorrentino said, is slated to begin this fall.