Old Towne Orange fountain to be repaired after March car accident

Last month, a car crashed and damaged the Orange Circle fountain, leaving many damages to the area. To fix this, the city of Orange announced that they will be investing $225,000 into fountain restorations. Photos by DANIEL PEARSON, staff photographer

The city of Orange had been planning to renovate and improve the fountain in Plaza Park, also known as the Orange Circle, until the plans were put on hold when a car crashed into part of the fountain last month. 

The accident occurred March 13 at around 5:20 a.m. when a patrol officer spotted a suspicious-looking vehicle without headlights and went to stop the vehicle. However, the car accelerated and then crashed into the fountain, flipped up into the air and landed in the center of the park.

Anastasia Beers, a sophomore health science major at Chapman, shared her thoughts regarding the accident and how the Orange Circle is such an important piece of the local community for students.

“I think that the fountain is the heart of the Orange Circle,” Beers said in an interview with The Panther. “It was very saddening to hear about the accident that occurred, and I hope that it is restored to keep the old and vintage design of the Orange Circle.”

In a March 30 joint statement emailed to The Panther by Vicente Sarmiento and Don Wagner, who currently represent the second and third districts on the Orange County Board of Supervisors, emphasized the importance of this park and the needed renovations after the accident.

“Historic spaces like the Orange Plaza also play an important role in fostering community and bringing people together,” Sarmiento wrote. “Chairman Wagner and I look forward to the restoration and improvement of this beautiful water fountain so that our community can get back to enjoying all it has to offer.”

The renovations to the fountain are estimated to be completed later this month.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors recently announced that $225,000 in county funds will be used for the repairs of the fountain and safety improvements to Plaza Park in the City of Orange.

The City of Orange is planning on using the funding toward restorations to bring back the historic park. This allotted amount is to be used to continue renovations of adding crash-rated bollards that had started prior to the collision in addition to the damage that resulted. 

The crash-rated bollards, one of the major factors of this project, would be reinforced with concrete to prevent future crashes or accidents in the future. In addition to these new fixtures, lighting around the fountain and in the Circle is also being improved to enhance visibility. It is unknown when these changes will be made.

In the same statement as Sarmiento and Wagner, Dan Slater — mayor for the city of Orange — also commented on the repairs and desire to begin repairs soon for the park.

“We are grateful to the Orange County Board of Supervisors led by Chairman Wagner and Supervisor Sarmiento for this timely assistance,” Slater wrote in the statement. “We plan to complete the repairs and restoration work on the fountain and the safety improvements around the park and in the Plaza in the coming months.”