even though the fountain was only open for a part of the 2004 season, and the weather was not particularly wet, the grass adjacent to part of the fountain was badly damaged, and it appeared that it would turn to a quagmire if heavy rain ever fell during the main visiting season. thus, in december 2004, another alteration project was started. this involved work on the drainage, together with laying new hard surfaces on some of the most frequently walked areas of the site and the planting of a special hard wearing rye grass mix in others.