Hart Plaza's Dodge Fountain back in daily operation

Detroit's Dodge Fountain is running again in Hart Plaza after years of neglect.

It’s been off for nearly a decade but has been reborn thanks to a $6.7 million investment.

“To come run around and get wet real quick on a nice 80-, 90-degree day? Can't beat it," Shun Howell of Detroit said.

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The fountain and the heat brought Howell and 9-year-old Xaiden Avery to Hart Plaza Thursday, hoping to cool down.

A hot day brought everyone toward the water, especially young kids.

“Now, I'm freezing for some sort of reason," fourth grader Jayden Morton of Detroit said as he stood in the wind soaking wet. "My dreads are all messed up, but I've just been running around. But I'm very excited they put this here.”

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Jayden was downtown with his brother and cousins who all took a turn at the fountain as grandma watched on.

Dedicated in 1976, the fountain was on and off through the 80s. Mayor Mike Duggan says it continued to deteriorate until the 2013 bankruptcy shut it down for good.

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Duggan and city representatives debuted the new and improved fountain during a press conference Thursday, thanks to a nearly $7 million investment from the American Rescue Plan.

“One of Detroit’s serious deficiencies over the years has been its lack of commitment to great public spaces,” Duggan said. "Great public spaces can unite a community, bringing in people of all walks of life and it can shape a city.”

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The fountain was on briefly during the NFL Draft and Movement Music Festival but now, it will be turned on daily.

“It's really cool," said Ben Biermann, who was visiting from the Ann Arbor area. "It's been years and years since I've seen it in operation.”

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With 300 jets and 300 lights, the city says the fountain can go seven and a half hours without completing a figuration, bringing back another Detroit landmark along with the memories that come with it.

“I grew up and I would play in it as a kid," Howell said. "To see another generation under us do the same thing? It’s cool for the city.”

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The fountain will now be on daily from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.