• AC Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Quick Links
Austin College Logo

Sherman, Texas

Apply

Visit

MENU
  • Home
  • 2023 Issue
    • From the President
    • A Date with Destiny
    • O’Days and the First Five Years
    • A Meaningful Life
    • Depth of New Academic Program Prepares Servant Leaders
    • Health Campus Takes Shape for New PA Program
    • Resistance is not Futile
    • Connecting People & Place
    • Going Global While Living Local
    • Global Learning for a Bigger Purpose
    • Apple Stadium Becomes a Bright Spot for All ‘Roos
    • White is Ready for Crimson & Gold
    • Success On & Off the Field
    • DEI Conversations Spark Change
    • ‘Roo Notes 2023
    • In Other Words
  • Issues
    • 2022 Issue
      • From the President
      • … Worth a Thousand Words
      • Planet Hunters
      • Austin College Can Feel Like Home – For Everyone
      • The Joy of Giving While We’re Living
      • They’re Somethin’ in the Water
      • How Many Laps Make a Champion?
      • An UP and Coming Sport
      • Arts Prevail in Pandemic Times
      • How to Not Get Lost in the Woods
      • Healing in the Arts
      • From Ida Green to the LA Scene
      • ‘Roo Notes 2022
      • In Other Words
    • 2021 Issue
      • From the President
      • Seeing 20/20
      • On the Front Lines
      • A Broad Worldview Helps Doctors Face a Global Challenge
      • Finding A New Normal
      • Making A Way
      • This Family is All In
      • A Dream Realized
      • No One Plans for a Pandemic
      • Pastoring in 2020
      • CREATE at 5
      • Transformed: Student Success
      • An Expert in the House
      • A Voice for Good Health
      • ‘Roo Notes 2021
      • In Other Words
    • 2020 Issue
      • From the President
      • Global Life: ‘Roos Around the World
      • Good to Go
      • Just Keep Running
      • Pledged to the Public Good
      • Leaves Book and Tea Shop
      • Public Health Program Provides Popular Major and Minor
      • Power to the ‘Roos
      • ‘Roo Notes 2020
      • In Other Words
    • 2019 Issue
      • From the President
      • TWELVE
      • The Making of a Legend
      • One Legend’s Story
      • Sacred Expressions
      • Powering the Future
      • Fierce and Friendly
      • The Stories of the Stones
      • Truth in Art
      • ′Roo Notes 2019
      • In Other Words
    • Winter 2018
      • Snapshot
      • From the President
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • The President’s Home at Wood House
      • Roots
      • Home Team
      • 100 Years of Co-Education
      • President Steven P. O’Day
      • Giving to Prepare Future Servant Leaders
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • July 2017
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • From the Interim President
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • The Adventure of a Lifetime
      • Au Revoir
      • The Momentum of Discovery
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • January 2017
      • From the President
      • For Love of the Game … and the Players
      • This Is Us – Diverse and United
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Winter 2016
      • From the President
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • Living the Liberal Arts
      • At Home in the Rainforest
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Summer 2015
      • From the President
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Community Impact
      • Of Gratitude and Wonder
      • Home Team
      • Reimagining the Liberal Arts in A Digital Age
      • Medical Experience in Mexico
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Spring 2014
      • From the President
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Preventing Pandemic
      • Home Team
      • A Wild Semester
      • The Bottom Line is Greener
      • The Business of Learning
      • Blazing Trails
      • An IDEA Realized
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Winter 2014
      • From the President
      • Snapshot
      • Roots
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Making A Difference in the Natural World
      • The Mentor Advantage
      • ‘Roos Who Write
      • Storytellers’ Gift
      • Strategic Plan
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Summer 2013
      • From the President
      • Snap Shot
      • Roots: On the Road Again
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Heard Around Campus
      • The Austin College Experience
      • Looking Back and Planning Ahead
      • Faculty Retirees Reflect
      • The Business of Food
      • Class of 2013 Takes on the World
      • A Legacy of Law
        • What is Pre-Law?
      • Dr. Kenneth Street
      • Making History
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Fall 2012/Winter 2013
      • From the President
      • Mission Around the Globe
      • My Summer of Learning
      • Views of the Outback
      • Our Identity
      • IDEA Center Challenge
      • Investing in Austin College
      • Snap Shot: Opening Convocation
      • Roots: Majestic Music
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Summer 2012
      • From the President
      • Detours to Adventure
      • At the Core of Excellence
      • Who Values Education? WE DO!
      • Sowing the Seeds
      • Banned, Buoyed, & Laureled:
      • A Lifetime In College
      • Snap Shot: Commencement
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Heard Around Campus
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
      • Roos for Roos
    • Spring 2012
      • From the President
      • Postcards from Abroad
      • Costa Rica Sisters
      • Texas Super Lawyers
      • An American in…Bucharest
      • My Internship in Congress
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
    • Winter 2012
      • From the President
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • A Century of Science
        • Digging the Antarctic
        • Science in Everyday Life
        • Alumnus Integral To The Manhattan Project
        • Starry, Starry Nights
        • Telling Her Story
        • Celebrating the Unknown
        • A Look Back
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Fall 2011
      • From the President
      • A New Year Begins
        • Meet the Class of 2015
        • Pieces of Home
        • Enrollee to Student
        • Freshman Legacies
        • The Summer Read
      • Gifts That Matter
        • Making Moments Matter
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • Honor Roll of Donors
    • Summer 2011
      • From the President
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Commencement Photos
      • The Many Faces of Success
      • Ghost Light
      • Time
      • In Full Bloom: Lives of Success
      • The Light Shines for Texas
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
    • Spring 2011
      • From the President
      • From the Editor
      • JanTerm 2011
      • Commencement 2011
      • ACtivator Event #500
      • The Homesick Texan
      • Remembering Chase Gaddy
      • Along Grand Avenue
      • Home Team
      • ‘Roo Notes
      • In Other Words
  • Archives
  • Contact Us
Info For...
  • AC Home
  • News
  • Events
  • Quick Links
Home » Along Grand Ave. » Along Grand Ave - July 2017 » A Tradition Restored

A Tradition Restored

Updated on: July 6, 2017

Jonnson FountainHundreds of Austin College students have celebrated significant events of their college years with a “dip” in Margaret Jonsson Fountain at the west end of Windsor Mall. That dip usually came at the hands of other students, who happily tossed the celebrant into the fountain’s pool. For the last year or so, however, those celebrations didn’t happen as general deterioration left the fountain nonfunctional.

All that changed in May 2017 as the fountain came to new life at approximately 9:30 p.m. on the renovation project’s completion deadline, only a few days before Commencement.

The circular, amphitheatre-style fountain and surrounding plaza (including a second fountain outside Ida Green Communication Center) were a gift in 1972 from Margaret and Erik Jonsson, a trustee of the College who was a former Dallas mayor and a founder of Texas Instruments. The board named the Margaret Jonsson Plaza and Fountains in honor of Margaret’s development of beautification projects in Dallas and North Texas. She believed that optimum conditions for learning include a pleasant environment, excellent facilities, and a creative academic program.

The fountains and plaza certainly provided a pleasant environment for many students over the intervening decades, particularly those who claimed a sunny spot around the popular fountain’s decorative brick tiers encircling the 50-foot diameter of the pool.

Jonnson Fountain 1972  Jonnson Fountain 2017

The new project maintained the amphitheatre design, with the brick tiers unchanged. The pool now is 8 feet smaller due to a circle of rocks that covers a drain system and keeps debris from the water. The fountain project again was completed thanks to the Jonssons. The board of the Margaret Jonsson Family Foundation agreed to match up to $60,000 for modernization of the fountain if the College raised an equal amount—which was accomplished this spring before the work began.

David Turk, executive director of facilities for the College, said the updated fountain itself is state of the art, with minicomputers running the fountain’s spray and multi-changing light system. Talley Associates landscape designers of Dallas completed conceptual work for the project; the fountain and lighting were designed by Roman Fountains in Georgia; and general contractor was All Pro Pools and Landscape of Denison, Texas. Turk said the team members compressed the work of several months into only a few to meet the assigned deadline, with completion a tribute to their dedication.

When the team flipped the switch at end of day on May 11, anxious moments passed as the pumps and lights turned on but no nozzles were spraying. Several adjustments later, streams of water were shooting skyward and cascading into the pool. Though the campus had seemed deserted with only one day of finals remaining, Turk said when the water began flowing, groups of students began to gather excitedly at the fountain’s edge and could be seen lining the IDEA Center windows overlooking the plaza. … A pleasant environment is restored. … And it won’t be long until student celebrations again include a dip in its waters.

Next: The Search for Austin College’s 16th President

Filed Under: Along Grand Ave - July 2017

GET IN TOUCH

903.813.2000
Austin College
900 N. Grand Ave.
Sherman, TX 75090

Contact Us

GET SOCIAL

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

GET LINKED

  • Quick Links
  • Human Resources
  • Campus Offices
  • Directory
  • Email

GET CONNECTED

Subscribe to Austin College E-Communication

Connect to AC

Copyright © 2022 - All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Consumer Information | Site by thrive-logo