Fountain Park will be picture perfect

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Council asks for old photographs to assist with restoration of Fountain Gardens.

Renfrewshire Council is calling on the people of Renfrewshire to visit memory lane to help with the restoration of Fountain Gardens in Paisley.

After successfully securing funding from both the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Scottish Executive’s Community Regeneration Fund, the Council are carrying out a major restoration of this important local landmark. In their attempt to restore the impressive fountain and gardens back to their original beauty, they are looking for as many photographs of how it would have looked when it was first built.

In addition to photographs, the Council is also calling on any local resident who may have items from the original park in their garden, as recent excavations revealed only the foundations of the original steps. It seems that the steps, balustrades, piers and urns were all removed some time ago. Although the Council is keen to get sight of these items, they stress that they will not be asking for them back after this length of time. Instead they will take a record of the missing items to make as accurate a replica as possible.

Councillor Ian McMillan, Convener of the Housing, Environment and Community Safety Policy Board, said: “This is a great chance for the local people to get involved in the restoration of this important landmark. It has proved a popular place for locals and tourists to visit over the years, so it will be exciting to see it when it is restored. I would therefore encourage as many people as possible to rummage through their attics and old boxes to see if they have any old photos that could help us in this extensive restoration project.”

Any one with old photos of Fountain Gardens or an old memorabilia from it should contact Monika Thomson, Environmental Services Department, Renfrewshire Council, South Building, Cotton Street, Paisley PA1 1UG or phone her on 0141 840 3343. Pictures showing the steps to the viewing platform at the Caledonian Street end of the gardens are especially needed. These steps had cast iron balustrades and piers topped by urns. All photographs will be copied and returned to their owners.

Press Release: Monday 22 May 2006