We passed this fountain on the Shoreline tour early in the day. I remembered hearing that it occasionally shot an arc of water across the river. I decided to search it out later in the day. My plans were delayed by the rain, but I still went looking and found it on my way back to the station.
It was raining harder by this time. There’s a sheltered area within the fountain where I could walk behind the waterfall. This made for an unusual but rather fun place to wait out a rain storm. I hung out there for about five minutes. The fountain is at the end of a residential street, and there wasn’t a vehicle or person in sight on my side of the river, a rarity in downtown Chicago, and one I appreciated.
I didn’t see the fountain shoot across the river. I didn’t know how often it did it, and I didn’t want to wait around too long. I found out later it happens at the top of every hour for 10 minutes, so next time I’ll be ready.
The fountain was built in 1989 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The arc of water supposedly marks the spot where the Lake Michigan and Mississippi River watersheds meet.