One reader asked me yesterday whether the Gateway Turtle fountain had been destroyed. The fountain–which sat at the center of the park’s Beaux Arts Pavilion–features prominently in images of the district. Once it became a gathering spot for Skid Row denizens in the 1930s, the city drained the water from the basin to keep men from bathing and drinking from it.
The fountain survived the demolition of the Gateway and now lives in the Lake Harriet Rose Garden, where it now serves as a backdrop for many wedding photos.
