The Entrance? Follow the Path Through That Fountain

A new fountain marks the main entrance to the State U. of New York at Albany. (Photos by Mark Schmidt, State U. of New York at Albany)

Whatever you may think of Edward Durrell Stone’s early-60s campus for the State University of New York at Albany, there’s no question that it’s a paradise for fountain fans. The vast pool that Stone put in a sunken courtyard at the heart of the campus is so important to the university that the whole community turns out for Fountain Day every spring when the weather is finally warm enough to turn on the jets. Students in swimwear celebrate by splashing around in the shallow water with beach balls.

Now the university marks its main entrance with a new fountain that’s entirely in keeping with campus traditions. Its jets rise out of a small cobblestone plaza in orderly groups that are a perfect complement to Stone’s multi-arched architectural composition. And a walkway between the groups of jets lets visitors get close to the action without having to put on swimsuits and flip-flops.

The new fountain is part of a three-acre, $4-million makeover of what had been a huge, often windswept expanse of cobblestone between the university’s circular driveway and the 1,540-foot-long main block of buildings. Planned by the landscape-architecture firm Thomas Balsley Associates, the makeover also brings grass, trees, bench seating, and wireless connectivity. The university held a formal opening ceremony yesterday for the new space, known as the Grand Entry Plaza.