The Lion fountain returns
to campus fully restored
By Dave Stephens
Assistant
Campus Editor
The roar of the lion may soon be heard on campus
again.
The Lion fountain, which has not been operational
for several years and was donated by the class of 1903, will be returning
to campus this spring completely restored.
"We’re restoring the old lion fountain
so that it functions as a drinking fountain again," said John Collier,
landscape architect for Purdue.
Collier said the fountain, which will be returned
to its original location between Stanley Coulter Hall and Wetherill
Laboratory of Chemistry, will have water running through it during the
warm months of the year.
Collier said that he wasn’t sure if the fountain
would be able to be restored, since it hadn’t been used in many
years.
"It was kind of neat working on it, we ran
into abandoned tunnels when we were excavating, it was like unearthing
a part of Purdue’s history," said Collier.
The money to restore the fountain came from donations
by the Reamer Club and Reamer alumni.
"The Lion fountain is an important tradition
to the Reamer Club," said Jessica Sawyer, a sophomore in the School
of Pharmacy and a member of the Reamer Club. "One of our members
decided that it needed to be made into a fountain again."
Sawyer said the Reamers use the fountain as a meeting
place to sing songs about Purdue. "We call them ‘Lion-group
sings’," said Sawyer.
Sawyer said the fountain should be done by April
22, in time for a dedication ceremony.
"The ceremony will be performed by the Reamer
Club; invitations have been sent out to alumni and people in the community,"
said Sawyer.
Sawyer said the Lion Fountain is a part of several
myths about Purdue. One says that if two people kiss by the bell tower,
and then walk by the fountain, they will be in love forever.
Another myth Sawyer said she's heard of is that
when a person walks by the fountain, the lion will roar if that person
is a virgin.
Sawyer said to learn more about traditions and
myths of Purdue to visit the Reamer Club Web site at: www.purduereamerclub.org.
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