Point State Park fountain won't be operational this summer amid major upgrade project

CBS News

29-04-2025

Point State Park's iconic fountain in Pittsburgh is undergoing major upgrade work and won't be operational this year as the park itself is getting a multi-million dollar facelift.
It's not an accident that the fountain hasn't been turned on yet this spring and it's not the only change you should expect at Point State Park this year.
2025 is becoming a transition year for Pittsburgh in a lot of ways and the fountain itself is a symbol of that transition.
The plume of the fountain reaching high above the confluence with its three side jets representing Pittsburgh's three rivers has long been the city's greeting card -- but today it sits dormant.
"We're going to start a project with Allegheny City Electric," said Jake Weiland, Director of Point State Park. "They won the bid to actually replace all the fountain lighting this year."
Weiland says it's a little hard to change lights if they're underwater, which is why the fountain hasn't been turned on.
"We are changing all the lights out," Weiland said. "There's 280 uplights in the fountain. And we're also changing all the conduit, all the wiring, all the controls within the pump house, so we have a fully operating fountain come 2026."
Events in Pittsburgh next year include America250PA, Pennsylvania's celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, and the 2026 NFL Draft, among others.
As the fountain gets its upgrade, so will Point State Park, to the tune of $3.4 million.
"The site improvement project is a much larger, much longer project that's that's actually going to impact a great deal of our operations, to include all events this year, after the month of May," Weiland said.
There won't be any summer events in the park, including 4th of July fireworks, but recognizing the walking, jogging, and biking nature of the park, Weiland says they'll try to keep the walkways open.
"However, we're going to be removing all the black top, milling the black top down, and replacing the black top," Weiland said. "We're going to be replacing all the benches and the water fountains. There's a great deal of work to be done."
If all goes according to plan, Weiland hopes the fountain will be ready for testing this fall.
"So we can exercise the fountain, run the lights for several weeks before the end of the year, because we know in April 2026 we're going to hit ground running," Weiland said.
When it comes to where all the normal events for the park are going to be relocated to, those will be handled on a case-by-case basis.