The fountain of Fountain Hills was built in 1970 and for about a decade was the tallest in the world. Today, the it’s the second tallest in the United States, and fourth tallest in the world. The fountain runs for 15 minutes every hour from 9am to 9pm. Most of the time it runs on two pumps and is ~250 feet. For special occasions they use three pumps and reach 500 feet.
The water in the lake is all reclaimed water from the local sanitation department (don’t think about it too much).
The fountain and lake are surrounded by a park – with a large children’s playground. Next to the playground is a whole musical area. Many playgrounds have one or two of these xylophones and/or drums, this one has a whole collection
We sat nearby and it was super fun people watching. Not one group of people walked by with our stopping to play for a little while. Most of the groups did not have children. There were three guys, they looked like they were maybe on a lunch break from a construction job… Maybe in their mid-30s. They played for a few minutes before going to hang with the ducks and coots in the lake. Super fun.
The music pavilion was funded by Rotary, and truly was bringing a lot of joy.
We wandered the Farmer’s Market and used it as a food court for lunch. There wasn’t a whole lot of produce, but there was an Alaskan fish vendor.
The difference between the wealthy and average areas is stark here. This was an excursion into how the other half lives for sure; we did feel welcomed though, so that was nice.
Quillpig 