Jacksonville, FL

Friendship Park & Fountain in Jacksonville

Address: 1015 Museum Circle, Jacksonville, FL 32207 - MAP
Phone: (904) 630-2489
Web: www.jaxfountain.com

Friendship Fountain is located on the Southbank Riverwalk in Friendship Park. Designed by Taylor Hardwick, the fountain debuted in 1965 as the world's largest and tallest at the time. Friendship Fountain housed pumps capable of pushing 17,000 gallons of water per minute, producing streams as high as a 10-story building.

The Fountain was refurbished in 1985 and saw fifteen years of activity until wear and corrosion took its toll and one of Jacksonville's most recognizable attractions had to be closed. Five months and $1.3 million later, Friendship Fountain was fully operational with new light features and was a major attraction at Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005. Unforeseen damages to pumps caused the fountain to close once more, only this time there was no budget available to repair the problem. The fate of the fountain and the park it resides in was up in the air for a number of years. In 2009, the Jacksonville City Council approved a $3.2 million renovation of the fountain and the park. Ground breaking of the renovation took place on September 1, 2010 and is expected to last roughly nine months.