I've always known there were a lot of them in our nation's capital, but since I started driving for Uber and especially since Spring has sprung, I've been learning just how many there are. Downtown, it seems like there's one on every corner.
The Neptune Fountain in front of the Library of Congress and the WWII Memorial fountains have to be among the boldest and best known but you would not be doing yourself a disservice if you ever made an effort to expose yourself to others of these works of art spread around the federal city.
One of the amazing things about them all is who has paid for them. Yeah, there are some that were funded by tax dollars but I'm not outright opposed to that. It's only foolish if we had to borrow the money to build them. But these things were built during better times, when America was strong and flush with cash. In fact, not only is it fiscally smarter doing stuff like that then, it also has to help politically by showing off to any potential enemies just how strong we are.
Some of the fountains being built today, not only do they bring a contemporary feel to the city, they're also privately funded. Builders are often adding water features to make their properties more appealing to prospective tenants. However, many of the best fountains have been built through charitable giving. The WWII Memorial did get some public funding from the feds but a lot of the money came from private and corporate donations.
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