Express & Star

Walsall Market pushes artwork into storage

The beleaguered Source of Ingenuity fountain is to be pulled down and put into storage to make way for the town's new-look market, it has emerged.

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The water feature arrived as part of the £2 million revamp of Walsall's Civic Square but has not worked since it was turned off in 2005 amid fears of Legionnaires Disease contamination.

The sculpture, based on Janus the two-faced Roman god of time, requires thousands of pounds worth of repairs to the pumping system.

But council chiefs say it will be removed as part of the overhaul of the town centre and there are no plans to bring it back.

Leader of Walsall Council Sean Coughlan said: "There are no plans to relocate the fountain at the moment because we have to find a site and the money first. It will be going into storage for the time being.

"I am due to attend the council's asset management meeting today and I will be discussing the issue with the officers there.

"We are committed to having public art, but this is something that the Labour group has inherited and which we will deal with it in good time. However, we are currently grappling with having to make £86m worth of cuts in the next four years and the fountain won't be at the top of the priority list."

The structure was designed by artist Tom Lomax who created Birmingham's The Spirit of Enterprise fountain in Centenary Square. It will be moved under plans to permanently relocate the 800-year-old Walsall Market from High Street and Digbeth to The Bridge in a £1.7m project. The move will allow better access to the town's new Primark and Co-op to stores that are currently being built in Old Square Shopping Centre.

The monument has previously been a target for yobs, causing thousands of pounds to be spent on repairs since it was opened in July 2001 as part of the borough's new Millennium celebrations. Vandals armed with tools punched out decorative lights around it in a spate of attacks just months after it was completed. In 2005 it was defaced when the eyes were painted pink and it was eventually switched off later that same year because of fears of contamination.

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