At Florida Southern College, Wright’s ‘Water Dome’ Finally Rises

The restored Wright fountain is turned on at Florida Southern College (Florida Southern image)

Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision of a spectacular “water dome” at the heart of his only college campus was finally realized Thursday night, when Florida Southern College turned on 74 high-pressure jets that created a graceful 45-foot-high dome of illuminated droplets above a basin 160 feet in diameter. An audience of at least 200 gathered for the event, according to Lakeland’s newspaper, The Ledger.

The water dome was a central feature of Wright’s design for the college (The Chronicle, June 15). But the pumps available at the time proved significantly less powerful than Wright’s imagination, and the fountain was eventually divided in three smaller pools with walkways between them.

Now the college, which received a preservation-planning grant from the Getty Foundation, is in the midst of several projects aimed at restoring its Wright-designed structures, including the fountain, the larger of two chapels, and Wright’s striking esplanades — cantilevered walkways that connect his buildings. The effort to recreate the water dome as Wright envisioned it cost nearly $1-million.