Kansas City, Missouri 

Call it what you will.

Cowtown. BBQ Capital of the World. Paris of the Plains.

Amanda Manion, a Kansas City, Mo., resident, knows it as the City of Fountains.

“This area here by the fountains, by the [Country Club] Plaza, is very attractive,” said Manion, who has lived in Kansas City since 1970.

Manion works at the Gap store in the middle of the Plaza – downtown Kansas City’s upscale shopping district in which more than 20 fountains provide eye-catching oases.

“People from all over, from California, from Europe, are always taking pictures by the fountains,” she said.

With almost 300 fountains dotting the streets, sidewalks and gardens across the city, Kansas City is second only to Rome in sheer number.

Manion said she would welcome an increase in the already impressive number.

“They could build more,” she said. “It would make the city more interesting and beautiful.”

Next door to the Gap, Jeff Russell works at Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Russell, who has lived in the Kansas City area his entire life, said he thinks the fountains help the area’s economy, and he enjoys their aesthetic appeal.

“It pretty much makes the whole Plaza,” he said.

“When there are new buildings being constructed, we go to the people building them, whoever the investors are, and ask them if they would consider incorporating a fountain into their design,” Dillon said.

Founder Harold Rice established the Foundation in 1973 after a trip across the Atlantic Ocean, Dillon said. Rice visited Rome and decided that Kansas City could become the United States’ version of the original city of fountains, thanks to the landmarks’ burgeoning presence.
Dillon said the reputation of the fountains has expanded both within the city and beyond.

“I think a lot of people know about Kansas City, and when they think of Kansas City they think of our fountains,” she said. “I think we’re very well known … not just in the U.S., but abroad.”

She said the collection, which spans far beyond the Plaza, began in the 19th century purely out of necessity.

“The first fountains in Kansas City, back in the 1800s, were used as drinking troughs for horses and other animals, and it just kind of evolved from there where they became things of beauty,” Dillon said.

Dillon said the most recent addition to Kansas City was the Henry Block Fountain in 2002, which was created by the designers of the well-known Bellagio Hotel and Casino water display in Las Vegas. She said there are no current plans for new fountains that she’s aware of, but with a lot of construction in the area, she thinks a number of new fountains will spring up at some of the new shopping centers. The Foundation facilitates the introduction of fountains into the city’s landscape and hosts an informative Web site, http://www.kcfountains.org, which includes a list of each fountain’s location, maps and history.

The 1899 Women’s Leadership Fountain, located at 9th and Paseo streets, is the oldest fountain in Kansas City, according to the Foundation’s Web site.

“The fountain originally consisted of an oval cut limestone basin surrounded by a raised sidewalk, a flower garden, gas lamps and a balustrade above to the south,” according to the Web site. “After a long period of non-use, the basin was excavated and repaired in 1970.”
The site also includes a list of dozens of “Did you know … ” facts about many of the fountains, as well as contact information for several tour guides.
Kansas City, Mo., resident Mary Crain has been giving tours of the city’s fountains for about 30 years. She often includes some of the city’s private fountains in addition to the more popular public choices.

“When I tour, we see about 45 fountains, and there’s probably close to 300 when you count all the fountains,” Crain said. “The fountains are not all right out in the street or in the parks.”

Crain said she enjoys giving tours.

“Water is very soothing to people,” she said. “… They have some [fountains] that they’ve actually turned into areas that children can play in because they know they’ll get into them anyway.”

Crain added that she often sees children and parents enjoying the landmarks, especially in summer.

“At Crown Center, you’ll see the children running through the fountain, you’ll see mothers and fathers and children all running through and cooling off,” she said.

Her tours cater to the wishes of each tour group. Crain said she especially enjoys when the groups get involved and come up with their own guesses about, or meanings for, a statue or sculpture accompanying a fountain.

“They come up with some of the funniest things, and that’s when your tour gets fun – with people who are respondent.”

Crain said the end result is one of the most rewarding aspects of escorting tour groups around the city.

“I like that when they leave the city, they say, ‘Wow, you’ve really got such a pretty city,’” she said.