PCEC News
Musical Fountain to Celebrate 60 Years
April 15, 2022
The article below, originally published by the Grand Haven Tribune, highlights the efforts of Padnos College faculty and students in updating the Grand Haven Musical Fountain, which is celebrating 60 years.
Later this year, the Grand Haven Musical Fountain Committee is throwing a community birthday party, celebrating 60 years of free, family-oriented entertainment. The party will be held in the Lynne Sherwood Stadium on Aug. 27. This family friendly celebration will be preceded by the daily broadcast of anecdotes and trivia in “60 Years in 60 Days” on 103.5 WAWL in Grand Haven, and a display of Fountain artifacts at the Tri-Cities Historical Museum.
Sixty years ago, Dr. William “Bill” Creason returned from service in postwar Germany with a vision. He had seen an organ-like device in a club in Berlin that synchronized water and lights to the music being played on its keyboard. At the time, the Grand Haven waterfront was an unsightly mess due to its use as a commercial harbor and industrial site. Thinking on a grander scale, Creason recruited a team of volunteers to collaborate on plumbing, hydraulics, industrial controls, music and broadcasting to develop a large-scale version of the device he had seen in Germany. By the summer of 1963, a 200-foot long version of the device debuted to the delight of local audiences. Dubbed “The World’s Largest Musical Fountain,” it incorporated the latest technologies available to control hydraulics, pumps, lighting and musical soundtracks to create a unique nightly performance along the shores of the Grand River.
The components of the Musical Fountain came from local businesses, the North Ottawa Water Treatment plant (pumps) and the Muskegon Airport (retired land lights). It was a community effort that received a U.S. patent for the design. Using the “2001 Space Odyssey” theme and Ron Hartsema’s “I am the Grand Haven Musical Fountain,” the fountain’s booming introduction and nightly shows became a signature and original event of summer entertainment in West Michigan.
Nightly displays were enhanced through partnerships with Grand Valley State University (Padnos College of Engineering and Computing) and countless hours of volunteer efforts needed to orchestrate the current library of shows. Starting eight years ago, “themed” shows were added that melded five to six soundtracks into a single offering such as “Movie Theme Night,” “Frozen” and “Days of Future Past” (Moody Blues album songs). The Musical Fountain Committee offered thanks to the significant support from local businesses and the wider West Michigan community for their ongoing financial support necessary to achieve major upgrades to the fountain, such as new piping and a new sound system.
Anyone interested in partnership or sponsorships information can email to [email protected]. More details are also available online at ghfountain.com.