It was a welcome sight earlier this week to drive through the Belmore Road and High Street intersection in Central Maitland and see the old library fountain blasting water again.
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The rejuvenation of the fountain is the latest in a line of Maitland City Council initiatives to spruce up the city.
Motorists who frequent one of Maitland’s busiest intersections, near the courthouse, will have noticed that large and vibrant pieces of artwork have been hung on the outside walls of the library in recent weeks.
The art was installed after council gave a nod to its efforts to be technologically savvy by emblazoning the social media hash-tag #MyMaitland in large letters facing the intersection.
The fountain restoration was another noticeable addition this week.
Cr Philip Penfold was understandably happy that there was water cascading from it once again.
He has been advocating for a restoration to take place for at least the past two years.
Cr Penfold hopes the patch of land, which is also having some landscaping work performed on it, will be well-used by the community.
The Mercury has been reporting on the disused fountain, which was built in 1972, for a couple of years.
The reports about the fate of the fountain have attracted strong interest and enthusiastic public conversation.
While some sections of the community are quick to criticise Maitland Council for its actions – or inaction – council has clearly listened and acted on public opinion in this case.
For that, council staff and the elected representatives should be thanked.
The momentum of progress in Central Maitland has become large in scale.
This is particularly true when you consider the Levee, the $20 million revamp of the old High Street mall.
The cost and effort of tearing up and rebuilding roads, knocking down buildings and keeping everyone happy in the meantime is a big thing to focus on.
And that project makes the revitalisation of the small piece of land outside the library seem minor in comparison.
But the work done near the intersection of High Street and Belmore Road is important and will add to the growing positive atmosphere in the city.
It’s good to see that council still considers the smaller details important.
