Gore Park fountain 'smells like rotten fish,' should be cleaned more, Hamilton resident says

Stinky water flowing through Gore Park's majestic fountain is unfortunate, but not unusual, say Hamilton residents who stop by regularly. 

On Monday, the fountain that marks a central spot in Hamilton's downtown was full of greenish-tinged water with bubbles of butter-yellow foam floating on top. 

"It kind of smells like rotten fish," said Raj Verma, who stood a distance away. 

The Stoney Creek resident said Gore is the closest park to his work and he visits often.

"If a little bit more maintenance could be done by the city, it can be a very good spot at the centre of Hamilton," Verma said.

According to Stevens Burgess Architects, the Toronto-based firm which was commissioned in 2009 to restore the fountain, the first fountain on the site was built in 1860 "as a symbol of Hamilton's progressive new waterworks system." There have been several since then.

Jeffrey Ng who runs Gore Park Outreach spends almost every Saturday there, providing meals to almost 300 people. 

In the warm weather, the fountain's water is often varying shades of green or brown, Ng said. However, he doesn't want to be too critical and understands that like an aquarium, the fountain water must be challenging to maintain.

It's better the water's flowing and stinky than turned off, like in the cold winter months, he said.

In the summer, the mist spewing off the fountain is cooling — "we basically get a free shower," said Ng.

City says fountain cleaned monthly

The city's park manager Kara Bunn said a contractor cleans the Gore fountain monthly with the next cleaning scheduled for Wednesday. 

She encouraged residents to contact the city with complaints about the smell and colour of the water so staff can direct cleanings be done sooner.

The Gage Park fountain was experiencing similar issues this weekend, too, with a clog in its filtration system, said Bunn. As of Monday, it was fixed up and back in service.

Unlike the Gore Park fountain, city staff clean the one at Gage Park and do so weekly, Bunn said.