You're Free to Roam the Grass at Main Street Garden. But About That Fountain ...

By Robert Wilonsky Mon., Mar. 29 2010 at 5:15 PM

Categories: News

Sam Merten

The signs are coming down at Main Street Garden, and so are the pants! Either that or someone's shooting a sequel to the new Erykah Badu video. Just don't tell the mayor pro tem.

The 6-year-old who lives in my house has been wondering since forever: When oh when will he be able to run amok at Main Street Garden, where, since forever, its patch of grass has been barricaded off whilst its roots take root. And then, earlier today, I espied this tweet from DowntownDallas: "SPOTTED: Stakes coming up at Main Street Garden. Get out and play on the grass!" Huzzah. At last!

So Sam, who had a couple of spare moments, ran downtown a moment ago to snap some fresh shots of the verdant, wide-open space now absent its keep-off warning signage ... only to discover, nope, they're still there. So, senior vice president of marketing for DowntownDallas Kourtny Garrett, what's up?

"They're literally all being taken down as we speak," she said at, oh, 4:40 this afternoon. "They started an hour ago. ... It's green. I can't believe it."

Sam Merten

So that's that. But while I had her on the phone, I asked Garrett about the Main Street Garden fountain, which we sneak-peeked back in October and which Park and Rec assistant director Willis Winters told us would "shoot out a stream of water that will sort of rush across the surface of the fountain" and resemble a river in which kids could play come warmer weather. Word is, that fountain will be dry most of the time. True?

"Right now, it's funded by the city to run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day," Garrett says. "That's all the Park Department has funding for." She says an advisory committee has been tasked with finding more loose change to extend hours, but, for now, "that's part of the city budget issue." I suggest turning it into a wishing well.

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