MANSFIELD — A relative youngster will be back in Central Park in time for Mansfield and Richland County to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States.
The historic Vasbinder Fountain — officially donated to the city on July 4, 1881 — will return in completely restored fashion for the local celebration of the nation’s semiquincentennial this summer, according to Public Works Director Louis Andres.
Andres provided a project update to City Council on Tuesday on the fountain that David and Jane Vasbinder donated to the city nearly 145 years ago, a century after the Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence.
The mammoth, cast-iron fountain was disassembled last fall and shipped to Robinson Iron, a foundry in Alabama that specializes in such restoration work.
That effort includes recasting parts as needed and sandblasting layers of paint that have been applied over the years. The original price tag for the fountain was around $2,500.
It also includes cleaning and conserving sections of cast iron, repairing corrosion, applying fresh paint and protective coating and updating the mechanical and plumbing systems.
“We have gotten a report back that they are 90 percent done with the casting and more than 50 percent done with the painting. It will be delivered (back to Mansfield) sometime in June, so we are very comfortable that the contractors will be able to get (the fountain) set in place for July 4th,” Andres said.
The work is being done with a $250,000 donation from the Richland County Foundation.
(Below are photos of the work being done at Robinson Foundry in Alexander City, Ala., on the Vasbinder Fountain. Photos published courtesy of Downtown Mansfield, Inc.)
“We are going to recreate that (1881) dedication as part of the 250th birthday celebration,” said Andres, who is representing Mansfield and Richland County as Ohio plans a statewide celebration.
“It’s going to look new. It’s going to be great. And we are going to add some additional features so it will be kind of a center landmark in Central Park,” he said.
When the fountain was taken away for repairs last year, it wasn’t the first time it had left the park. In fact, the fountain was gone for two decades at one point.
The city “sold it for scrap” in 1958 to James Pugh, who owned land that is now part of Malabar Farm State Park near Lucas, including the famous “Pugh Cabin.”
The city made the decision to get rid of the fountain when it paved the road through Central Park, breaking it into two halves, south and north of Park Avenue.
Pugh, fortunately, never scrapped it, Andres said in 2024.
“James Pugh today would be considered a hoarder. He never threw anything away,” said Andres, the manager at Malabar Farm for 22 years.
Instead, Pugh gave it to his friend, Louis Bromfield, who placed the fountain in a lower terrace garden near the pond before donating it back to the city when it requested it in 1979.
The city, led by then-Councilman Dan Stevens, had the fountain restored and placed back in the park. It was rededicated on July 4, 1979.
(Below is a PDF of a report on the Vasbinder Fountain prepared by city of Mansfield deputy engineer Blair McClenathan.)
In describing the restoration plan in 2025, city deputy engineer Blair McClenathan talked about the plumbing improvements.
“What we’re planning on doing is installing a manifold inside the base of the fountain where we can directly plumb to each of the bowls, so we can have more water coming out of the top bowl and it’ll trickle out of the figure at the top,” McClenathan said.
