Toronto’s iconic dog fountain in Old Town’s Berczy Park is getting a major refresh this winter, as the City of Toronto moves to hire a vendor to repair and repaint all 27 dog sculptures, as well as the often-overlooked (but never forgotten) lone cat that serves as the park’s centrepiece!
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As first reported by Toronto Today, the City has confirmed plans to secure a contractor for the work, which will take place this winter while the fountain is already shut down for the season.
The Berczy Park Dog Fountain arrived on the scene in 2017, but it’s already become one of downtown Toronto’s most popular landmarks. The triangular park is tucked between Wellington, Front and Scott Streets just behind the Gooderham Flatiron Building, and was completely overhauled that year as part of a $7.2-million redesign led by legendary landscape architect Claude Cormier and his studio (now known as CCxA).
Cormier’s team is actually behind some of the city’s most playful public spaces, including Sugar Beach and Love Park, but Berczy might be Cormier’s most instantly recognizable Toronto work. Here, the animal sculptures are clustered around the two-tier, cast-iron fountain, each one craning its neck toward a giant golden bone perched at the top!
Since opening, the fountain has functioned as both a sculpture and a splash pad. Each of the dog sculptures spouts water from its mouth, while a ground-level trough lets real dogs grab a drink on hot days.
But after eight summers of sun, splashing and enthusiastic pats from visitors, the once-vivid coats on the sculptures have noticeably faded. So, even with regular maintenance, it’s clearly time for a tune-up! The sculptures will be taken off-site for a short period this winter, with the goal of reinstalling them just in time for the warmer weather next year.
This will mark the first full repaint since the fountain was unveiled eight years ago.
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According to a statement provided to blogTO, the City is in the process of securing a vendor who will carefully remove all of the dog (and cat) figures from the fountain, repair any damage and fully repaint them over the winter months.
Judging by social media comments, their temporary absence will definitely be noticed.
“Like the bean in Chicago it’s becoming an iconic tourist attraction here. We should have duplicates of every dog ready to go so that maintenance and repairs can be made to each without disappointing the tourists” one Reddit user said.
Another noted, “I go through here often. There’s always so much excitement from kids seeing it for the first time, running up to it, going around and petting all the dogs. All the tourists on the trek from the CN Tower > Union > St. Lawrence Market > Distillery stop to take selfies, advertising a great part of our city to everyone around the world.”
