ORLANDO, Fla.,None — Orlando's iconic Lake Eola fountain is flowing once again. The city put a temporary fix on the fountain that's been broken for nine months, and Skywitness 9-HD flew over the fountain as it came back to life Wednesday afternoon around 1:00.
FOUNTAIN BACK ON: See Images | Raw Video
The fountain still needs more than $1 million worth of work. It's the centerpiece of Lake Eola Park.
"This fountain means Orlando," resident Peggie Edwards said.
Peggie Edwards used to watch the Lake Eola fountain from her high rise office window, but that all changed in August when lightning hit the 52-year-old Orlando landmark. The lightning fried the motors, lights and electrical controls.
For nine months, it sat idle; some called it the green blob in the middle of the lake.
"It's not just that it's out, it's we have to constantly look at it," said resident Tyler Menzel.
But just after 1:00pm Wednesday, it sputtered slowly at first then water started flowing and shooting into the air.
After the damage, the city filed an insurance claim and picked up $285,000, which was enough to make temporary repairs. Those repairs had to be done to protect the fountain from the summer heat.
"Without having the water flow over the beautiful green shell it causes further deterioration," said Mayor Buddy Dyer.
But the city expects to spend more than $1 million extra from it's own self insurance fund to bring the fountain back up to form with computer synchronized lights and music, and better water flow.
For now, people are just glad to see the water flowing again.
"One of the beauty marks of Orlando and it's about time we got this beauty mark back into service," park visitor Lawrence Insana said.
The city expects to get the rest of the insurance money by next month, and then it will take another 10 months or so for the final repairs to be done.
In the meantime, the city may shut it down from time to time for hired contractors to work on it.
Lake Eola's fountain was state-of-the art when it was built in 1957. It cost about $160,000. Presently, city officials say the same caliber fountain would cost $4 million to $5 million.
WFTV
