Focus on Columbus Fountain and explore the Condition and Conservation.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places, on March 7, 1968.In October 1991 the memorial was spray painted with graffiti reading "500 Years of Genocide" during a wreath-laying ceremony by the Knights of Columbus ("500 Years of Faith") and the National Park Service removed it with surface cleaners. In March 1994 the work was surveyed by the Save Outdoor Sculpture! program and was described as needing treatment.As of 2014, The fountain has fallen into a state of disrepair. According to the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC), the fountain suffers from significant structural issues. The statues have been painted over to hide the discolorations and the fountain basins are boarded up to avoid further damage as the plumbing does not function. On May 25, 2016, the National Park Services and the USRC announced that Fountain had been selected as one of 20 historic places to compete for a share of $2 million in grants under the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Partners in Preservation program.It remains unclear when or if it will be restored, especially as attitudes toward Christopher Columbus have recently changed. The Black Lives Matter riots of 2020 and 2021 where several Christopher Columbus statues were vandalized around the country and Historical revisionism of his legacy may also have an impact on the timeline of its possible restoration.
National Register of Historic Places Historical revisionism Black Lives Matter Knights of Columbus Union Station National Park Service Christopher Columbus graffiti