Fountain Hills will light up its iconic fountain in red and green tonight to recognize the Super Bowl teams in town, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles.
The fountain light display will occur at the top of each hour for 15 minutes from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 11 at Fountain Park, located at 12925 N. Saguaro Blvd. The fountain and Fountain Park are also viewable via the town's EarthCam at experiencefountainhills.
Robert McCulloch built the fountain in 1970, the year before reconstruction of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, another of McCulloch's projects. The fountain sprays water for about 15 minutes every hour at the top of the hour. The plume rises from a concrete water lily sculpture in the center of a large artificial lake.
The fountain, driven by three 600-horsepower (450kW) turbine pumps, funnels water at a rate of 7,000 gallons per minute through an 18-inch nozzle. With all three pumps and under ideal conditions, the fountain reaches 560 feet (170m) in height, though in regular operation, only two are used, with a fountain height of around 300 feet (91m). It was the world's tallest fountain and held that record for over a decade. Today, the famous fountain is the second tallest in the United States and the fourth tallest in the world.
Water to create the fountain comes from Fountain Lake, using reclaimed water provided by Fountain Hills Sanitary District. The water in the lake is also used to irrigate Fountain Park and other parks and golf courses in the community.
