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:
“I would fain say something, not so much concerning the Chinese and Sandwich Islanders as you who read these pages, who are said to live in New England; something about your condition, especially your outward condition or circumstances in this world, in this town, what it is, whether it is necessary that it be as bad as it is, whether it cannot be improved as well as not.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In strict science, all persons underlie the same condition of an infinite remoteness. Shall we fear to cool our love by mining for the metaphysical foundation of this elysian temple? Shall I not be as real as the things I see? If I am, I shall not fear to know them for what they are.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“It is at the same time by poetry and through poetry, by and through music, that the soul glimpses the splendors found behind the tomb; and when an exquisite poem brings tears to one’s eyes, these tears are not the sign of excessive pleasure, they are rather witness to an irritated melancholy, to a condition of nerves, to a nature exiled to imperfection and which would like to seize immediately, on this very earth, a revealed paradise.”
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–1867)