Southern section of D.C.’s Meridian Hill Park opens, fountains still empty

After two nearly two years of renovations, the southern section of Meridian Hill Park in Washington, D.C., is finally open.

The newly renovated section of the park includes refinished walkways, newly planted trees and handicapped accessibility. All the “do not enter” signs that surrounded the southern section of the park are now gone as of this week.

The most famous aspect of the park, the cascading fountain, is still missing though. The renovations, which started in December 2020, never included the cascading fountain, according to a report from the National Parks Service.

The NPS is still looking for funding to restore the park’s most iconic feature.

“We aren’t certain about spring 2023 for turning on the fountains. It will be dependent what short-term fixes are needed, but we are hopeful. The bigger rehabilitation need has been scoped and funding for that hasn’t been identified as of yet,” an NPS representative told Popville.