James Scott Memorial Fountain
Encyclopedia
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, USA, was designed by architect Cass Gilbert
Cass Gilbert
- Historical impact :Gilbert is considered a skyscraper pioneer; when designing the Woolworth Building he moved into unproven ground — though he certainly was aware of the ground-breaking work done by Chicago architects on skyscrapers and once discussed merging firms with the legendary Daniel...
and sculptor Herbert Adams. Located in Belle Isle Park
Belle Isle Park
Belle Isle is a island park in the Detroit River, between the United States mainland and Canada, managed by the Detroit Recreation Department. It is connected to the rest of Detroit, Michigan by the MacArthur Bridge...
, the fountain was completed in 1925 at a cost of $500,000. The lower bowl has a diameter of 510 ft (155.4 m) and the central spray reaches 125 ft (38.1 m). The fountain honors the controversial James Scott
James Scott
James Scott may refer to:*James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth , noble recognized by some as James II of England*James Scott , British MP 1710–1711*James Scott , British naval officer...
, who left $200,000 to the City of Detroit for a fountain in tribute to himself.
Scott was left a sizable fortune by his father who invested in Detroit real estate. According to contemporaries, Scott gambled and told off-color stories. He was described by twentieth-century author W. Hawkins Ferry as vindictive and a misanthrope who attempted to intimidate his business competitors and when this was unsuccessful, he filed suit. Perhaps for these reasons, Scott died in 1910 with no heirs or colleagues and he bequeathed his estate to the City of Detroit with the condition that the fountain include a life-sized statue of him. Some accounts state that the will required that the statue be at the fountain's pinnacle.
Several community and religious leaders spoke against accepting the bequest saying that a person with Scott's reputation should not be immortalized in the city. Mayor Philip Breitmeyer and City Council President David Heineman urged accepting the gift saying that the city shouldn't insult any of its citizens by refusing such a generous offer.
While the debate raged, Scott's fortune continued to grow and by the time construction commenced it topped $1 million. The final design placed Scott's statue in an inconspicous spot behind the fountain.