By Allison Lee Isley

Salisbury Post

Driving along Innes Street at around 8 on Monday evening, you may have come across a light show.

Robertson Eastern-Gateway Park, on the corner of Depot and East Innes streets, features a fountain representing the biblical figure Rebecca. The fountain is a replica of the original that stood at the intersection of Innes and Main streets. The original was installed in 1888 and removed in 1905 because it was considered an inconvenience for cars.

This current fountain was opened at Gateway Park on October 12, 1997. Since the replica fountain was installed, it has not undergone any maintenance. As of two weeks ago, the process of performing general maintenance on the fountain began. Before the maintenance began, white lights were the source of illumination at night. As a part of the project, the city decided to look at different options for the lighting solution. On Monday evening, Randy Lapish, owner of Caribbean Pool Service in Concord, demonstrated the appearance of colored lights to city officials and others.

Over the course of the next few weeks, File, Salisbury’s infrastructure technical supervisor, is going to be working on pulling out and replacing the concrete in the fountain, as well as painting it. The predicted completion of the project is in mid April. A final decision concerning the lights has not been made as of yet, but the future of the fountain might be looking a bit more colorful.