Fountain Fixed After Being Soaped

Today’s Houstonian reports that the Mall Area fountain is operational again after recent vandalism:

Plumber John Turman, a SHSU Physical Plant employee, was in charge of cleaning the fountain and making it functional again.

The fountain was turned off for a few days because vandals poured soap into the fountain pump. Turman had to clear the pump with cleaning chemicals several times to remove the soap.

"It had so much soap in it we had to shut it for a few days to completely clean it out," Turman said.

The prank has become a recurring problem for the maintenance staff. There were 18 incidents last semester alone.

This latest incident causes more damage than usual because the person or persons responsible almost tore the pump's electrical box off the wall.

Although no suspects have been identified, Turman has his suspicions as to who's involved.

"They're probably college students with an elementary education," Turman said.