‘Uncommon Friends’ fountain grazed by drunk driver
After being inundated by storm surge generated by Hurricane Ian, the Uncommon Friends fountain in Centennial Park East suffered another close call Monday night when a drunk driver grazed the outer wall of the installation.
The fountain is a tribute to the bond shared by three of Fort Myers’ most famous winter residents, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. 
The inventors are depicted lounging around a campfire during a trip into the Florida Everglades in 1914. Commissioned by the City’s Beautification Advisory Board, the late Don “D.J.” Wilkins depicted the inventors on an island surrounded by aquatic wildlife that includes a mother alligator and her five babies, a manatee and her calf, otters, 16 fish, four floating lily pad groupings 
and a dozen frogs that serve as fountainheads.
Neither the inventors nor any of the inhabitants of the pool surrounding them were injured in Monday night’s accident, which caused the loss of eleven of the limestone coping slabs that adorn the top of the wall surrounding the reflection pool. However, Ian left a residue of slimy black river mud at the bottom of the freshly cleaned and painted pool and the receding water caused the reclining figure of 
Thomas Edison to tilt forward slightly.
Parks & Recreation plans to straighten Edison, clean up the fountain and its inhabitants and fill the pool in time for the holidays.
The fountain has been the source of some controversy of late. This past May, the City’s Public Art Committee voted to eliminate the water feature surrounding the artwork unless a sponsor can be found to underwrite the cost of repairs to the creatures in the pool caused by people wading in the water and hopscotching across the rocks and animals to take selfies on the island with Edison, Ford and Firestone.
Wilkins’ widow, 
Jeanne, and several of the artists friends led by Brent Sheneman, are spearheading a campaign to find a sponsor and possibly add a “waltzing waters” component to the fountain, but it is unclear whether the latter proposal can win approval by the Public Art Committee and the City’s Historic Preservation Commission. The status of these efforts will be the topic of discussion 
at the Public Art Committee’s monthly meeting on November 15.
But even if the Public Art Committee elects to “deaccession” the water feature, the outer wall will be retained and needs to be repaired. No timetable has been established to accomplish this work.
The full story 
of the Uncommon Friends fountain can be found here.
October 26, 2022.
About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.