AMORY, Miss. (WTVA) - There's a popular attraction that sits nestled in between Main Street and City Hall in Amory: the fountain at Frisco Park.
But several factors have made officials decide a major change for the fountain.
Located in the middle of Frisco Park is a fountain that was constructed in the 1970's from Urban Renewal Funds.
City leaders are on the verge of making a change to the fountain, one they feel will attract more people.
"We would like to remove that facility and put in a structure that is basically a splash pad like many communities around us have done," said Howard Boozer, mayor of Amory.
Even though there are signs posted throughout Frisco Park that forbid swimming or wading, for whatever reason people decide to go ahead and get in the fountain.
"The chemicals are in there," adds Boozer. "It just should not be used as a wading pool or a swimming pool or anything of that nature."
"It's an aesthetic piece, it's beautiful and it's not meant to play in," added Jamie Morgan, deputy city clerk. "The way that it is low to the ground, it invites people to get in and play. It's not a safe thing and it's not a healthy thing to do."
The size of the current structure proposes a big challenge for officials, but once it's overhauled many hope it will greatly enhance the park.
"If you look at the fountain, you'll notice it's very large," adds Morgan. "It will accommodate an 1,800-square-foot fountain and you're looking at almost $200,000 for the appropriate way to channel the water in. Keep it clean, sanitary. We'd like to have it lit so at night you can see the water in the jets."
But to raise that kind of money in this current economic climate will require a number of different fundraisers.
"We're going to sell t-shirts," adds Morgan. "We talked about doing other things like a golf tournament, a 5K -- just anything we can think of to raise funds for this week and take donations as well from companies and individuals."
Once the right amount of funding is raised, work on the project will commence.
