DPW Holds Ceremony to Re-open Deer Park Spring
Saratoga Springs, NY – Department of Public Works Commissioner Anthony, “Skip” Scirocco announced restorations to the Deer Park Spring in Congress Park at a small ceremony on Friday, June 15, 2018. DPW performed in house repairs on the restoration of the fountain, and worked with the Saratoga Springs History Museum to research the history of the spring.
Deer Park Spring was originally called the “Fresh Water Spring,” when it was established by the Congress and Empire Spring Water Company in 1876 during improvements to the southern end of Congress Park. At that point in time that area of the park had an enclosed fence where tame deer were kept, lending to the future name of this spring being the Deer Park Spring.
The cast iron fountain itself was purchased from the Andrew Handyside Foundry in London. At the time of installation, the June 7 1876 Daily Saratogian explained why the fountain came from London, “no work of superior character, it is said, is done in this country.”
“As we fast forward nearly 150 years later, I can share with you today that work of superior quality is done in this country,” Said Scirocco, “because the Saratoga Springs DPW workers did an amazing job restoring this fountain. The quality of their work is truly exceptional.”
The fountain was taken apart piece by piece last fall and moved to the DPW facility for restoration this spring. The fountain was cleaned, missing pieces were fabricated, and internal plumbing was updated. DPW spent time researching the history and the status of similar fountains.
“That’s how we came to the conclusion that there are only four fountains like this one in operation around the world,” said Scirocco.
We also restored the pouring spouts to be similar to what could be made out in historical photos. While researching what colors to repaint the fountain, a Saratogian article from May 20, 1912 described how Park Commissioner Allerdice explained that “green and white” were becoming the prominent colors of the park. The paint system included a durable primer, an epoxy coat, followed by a urethane coat.
“I have to admit that the paint job came out incredible. DPW also saw this as an opportunity to clean up the landscaping around the fountain, we added a round concrete base, boxwood bushes, geraniums in the planters and a new informational plaque,” Scirocco explained.