Diversity Fountain taps still dry almost a year after unveiling

The Town of Stratford is still waiting to turn on the taps on its new Diversity Fountain even though it was officially unveiled last October.

Part of the P.E.I. 2014 celebrations, the Diversity Fountain features a bronze statue of famous Mi'kmaq long distance runner Michael Thomas at the centre. It's meant to honour people of all different backgrounds who have made Stratford home. 

Around the statue are two circles of granite boulders. Inside the ring of boulders, a series of water nozzles are supposed to spray a light mist.

But the town can't turn on the water until it finishes a flagstone walkway around the statue and the flagstone has been on backorder for months.

Stratford Mayor David Dunphy says he's hoping the work will be complete before the end of August.

"The mist is just to draw attention to the fountain. It's called a Diversity Fountain," he said.

"It's just really to kind of create a bit of an attraction and a draw for people to come down and take a look at it and walk around and see all the parts of the diversity fountain and get a good feel for what it's meant to be."

Dunphy says the project is still on budget — with a final price tag in the $100,000 range.

He says once the fountain is operational, the town will decide how often it will spray the mist.

The Mi'kmaq Confederacy is organizing a run named in honour of Michael Thomas on Sept. 19.

The race course will include the section of the Trans Canada Trail around the Diversity Fountain in Stratford.