Fredenhagen Park’s Exchange Club Memories Fountain, which memorializes and honors Naperville community members, is back on after a nearly five-year hiatus.
“It’s up and running now, which is awesome,” Riverwalk Commission Chair Jan Erickson said. “It’s been several years since it’s been running and I know the community is interested in having that beautiful fountain available to them.”
The water feature serves as a centerpiece of the 1.1-acre site located along the Naperville Riverwalk. It was shut down in 2021 due to operational issues.
“The fountain was not holding the water,” Erickson said. “The water was leaking and then in the spring of 2022, I think we tried turning it back on again and same situation.”
A 2022 assessment found broken piping and a compromised waterproofing membrane that needed replacement. It was also determined that the vault containing fountain’s water feature controls required safety upgrades and that fountain lighting could be replaced with a more energy-efficient system.
“A large portion of the water supply lines needed to be replaced, which required removal of a significant portion of the fountain and replacement of the waterproof liner,” said Andy Hynes, deputy director for the city’s Transportation, Engineering and Development department.
Initial estimates put repair pricetag at about $400,000, leading the Riverwalk Commission and the now-defunct Exchange Club of Naperville to consider alternatives, including converting the fountain into a static art installation or creating a more natural water feature with plantings.
In the end, the commission opted for restoring the fountain to its former glory.
The project was to be completed in summer 2024 alongside two other city fountains that needed repairs, the Dandelion Fountain and the Horse Trough Fountain.
But as work on the Memories Fountain progressed, it was found that “deterioration of the underground supply lines was more severe than anticipated and required additional time and effort to complete,” Hynes said.
Repairs were finally completed in October 2025 and on Wednesday, the fountain was turned back on.
The original contract awarded for the three fountains was $423,600, with $365,400 earmarked just for the Memories Fountain. Hynes said the cost of the completed work was $442,060.
“I love it. I love that fountain,” Erickson said, noting that she helped with funding for it when she was a member of the Exchange Club.
Fredenhagen Park, which serves as a gateway to North Central College and downtown Naperville, officially opened in November 2003 and was dedicated in May 2004. The land for the park was donated by Ted Fredenhagen and Rita Harvard, the children of Walter and Grace Fredenhagen.
Walter Fredenhagen was the founder of the Cock Robin ice cream parlor chain. One of his parlors stood on the site of what is now Fredenhagen Park for nearly 70 years.
The park’s centerpiece fountain was named after the Exchange Club of Naperville, a civic service organization that was a major donor for the park when it was constructed about two decades ago.
The club dedicated the fountain to “memories” because it sold bricks and stones on which purchasers could have messages engraved to honor friends, remember loved ones or commemorate a milestone as a means of funding the park. Those bricks and stones surround the fountain.
“There’s so many awesome stories in those bricks,” Erickson said. “There are memorials of loved ones and pets that have passed away. There are milestones that are represented on those bricks. There’s even a wedding proposal on one of them, which is kind of cool. A lot of our fallen soldiers are memorialized there.”
cstein@chicagotribune.com
