Many people have been wondering about the fountain that lies in the center of our campus. What is this anomalous little item we walk by every day? As a matter of fact, it is basically little more than a pretty stream of circulating water coming out of the ground. It is cleverly designed to not stick out of the ground to allow emergency vehicles to use the road on which it lies if necessary.
The fountain itself was designed by a group of architects and WPI faculty, staff, and students. The plaza surrounding it was designed by the Halverson Co. Landscape architects. There is, in fact, an anemometer located on Olin Hall which regulates the height of the fountain based on windspeed in order that the fountain does not spray pedestrians as they walk by. The fountain costs $1,000 a year to operate and is turned on in April and off in October, save for a dramatically early or late winter.
Nothing shows WPI students' affection for it so well as the many different pranks played on it, such as pouring in bubble soap and causing it to foam up. Many students feel that the fountain is a positive addition to our campus, and the plaza is used by many students everyday as a pleasant place to sit around and study, "hang," or just eat lunch in peaceful, relatively quite place.