Right Now Downtown

While the Ohio Judicial Center and Bicentennial Park have fountains that are great for sitting around on a hot summer day, downtown’s newest fountain at North Bank Park has one that’s great for sitting in.

For fountain fans, downtown overflows with opportunity, from the pastoral pond setting of the Old Deaf School’s Topiary Garden to the sublime chorus of Sensenbrenner Park’s cascading wall.

While the Ohio Judicial Center and Bicentennial Park have fountains that are great for sitting around on a hot summer day, downtown’s newest fountain at North Bank Park has one that’s great for sitting in.

Part of the Scioto Mile network of parks, North Bank is 9 acres along the Scioto in front of the Arena and Pen West districts. In addition to a dramatic glass pavilion, amphitheater-style lawn seating and multi-purpose river trails that connect to other parks, it features an interactive fountain designed by Myers-Schmalenberger to pop up in response to visitors’ motions.

Fountains seem to have a universal appeal. “It’s a very basic sort of thing,” said John Petrushka, senior associate at MSI, the company behind the North Bank’s squirting fun. “I think it’s because you can experience them with all your senses-you can watch them and hear them, a lot of times you can smell the vapor, and the kids can probably taste them when they’re walking over the geysers. If you can design them so people can get involved and feel them, that’s a no-brainer.”

For fountain fans, downtown overflows with opportunity, from the pastoral pond setting of the Old Deaf School’s Topiary Garden to the sublime chorus of Sensenbrenner Park’s cascading wall. Click here for a photo tour.