Queen Victoria Square fountains set to remain off for the summer while repairs continue
The fountains in Queen Victoria Square were on and children could be seen playing in them on Thursday, the council had, the day before, announced the fountains had been turned off after being reportedly vandalised.
After the fountains were spotted to be up and running less than 24 hours after the council announced they had been powered down, the LDRS contacted the council for an update on the situation. A council spokesperson has since confirmed the fountains are not back on for the summer and the internal mechanisms still need to be repaired.
The council has stated that the cause was due to heavy rainfall in the area. This resulted in a safety mechanism being triggered.
Fountains switched off due to vandalism
Earlier this week the council announced that the fountains needed to be switched off due to damage to the internal mechanisms. It is believed this was caused by an act of vandalism on Sunday, July 20, when it is alleged that detergent was poured into the fountains, causing damage to the internal mechanisms.
In response to this, Cllr Mark Ieronimo, portfolio holder for transport and infrastructure at Hull City Council, said: “This kind of reckless and irresponsible behaviour is completely unacceptable. It’s not only resulted in the damage of a much-loved city centre feature, but it is also going to cost taxpayer money to repair – which could be better spent elsewhere.
“We know how much residents and visitors enjoy the fountains, especially during the summer months, so we fully understand how frustrating this news will be. However, public safety must always come first.
“We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding while the issue is being resolved.” The council also confirmed it is working closely with Humberside Police to identify those responsible.
Why were the fountains switched back on?
After seeing the fountains working on the morning of Thursday, July 24, the LDR contacted the council, to see if the issue had been resolved. The council confirmed that the internal mechanisms still needed to be fixed.
A spokesperson for Hull City Council said: “We can confirm that the Queen Victoria Square fountains were briefly activated on Thursday. As soon as this was identified, they were immediately switched off.
“Our external contractors have since confirmed that the recent heavy rainfall caused the water level in the trough to exceed 200mm, which triggered a safety mechanism and automatically activated the jets. This function has now been overridden to ensure the fountains remain off until the internal mechanisms are repaired.”