Condition
Because of the soft nature of limestone, the fountain eventually had to be renovated to replace the existing blocks which by 1998 had worn away to the point of being at risk of sliding. A limestone-colored type of granite from China was chosen as the replacement material, being a much more durable stone. Granite is also much heavier than limestone, so the foundation was recast to withstand the additional pressure. The rim of worn limestone which edged the platform was removed. With these improvements, the lifespan of the fountain was expected to gain several decades. A rededication took place following the renovation in December 1998.
Read more about this topic: Sutphin Fountain
Famous quotes containing the word condition:
“We have imagined ourselves a special creation, set apart from other humans. In the last twentieth century, we see that our poverty is as absolute as that of the poorest nations. We have attempted to deny the human condition in our quest for power after power. It would be well for us to rejoin the human race, to accept our essential poverty as a gift, and to share our material wealth with those in need.”
—Robert Neelly Bellah (20th century)
“One might feel that, at my age, I should look on life with more gravity. After all, I’ve been privileged to listen, firsthand, to some of the most profound thinkers of my day ... who were all beset by gloom over the condition the world had gotten into. Then why can’t I view it with anything but amusement?”
—Anita Loos (1894–1981)
“Such condition of suspended judgment indeed, in its more genial development and under felicitous culture, is but the expectation, the receptivity, of the faithful scholar, determined not to foreclose what is still a question—the “philosophic temper,” in short, for which a survival of query will be still the salt of truth, even in the most absolutely ascertained knowledge.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)