The Royal Fountain

[BeeastFarmer]

I couldn't find a specific topic so I started this.  Admin, if there is one, please merge.

I've often wondered:  when you look at The Royal Fountain from the entry plaza, you can see the pumphouse below The Royal Bandstand.  There are three arches facing the fountain, but only one is open, on the right.

Do the other arches open?  Is it functional or decorative?  If decorative, why not open all three?

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

My best guess is that the open arch is to allow light and a view out on the fountain from the control room, while the closed arch(es) are where the water pump mechanism(s) live and don't need the light or the view. The 2011 Google Street View capture actually shows all three arches being open. You can see the evolution between the three Royal Fountains below.

The aforementioned 2011 Google Street View capture from Kings Island.

The 2015 capture from Kings Dominion. You can see how their fountain pump house was different than Kings Island's as Taft and their park designers refined International Street for their second park.

Lastly, here's the same view from Canada's Wonderland. Their pump house is located under the bridge in front of Wonder Mountain and (I believe) services both the Royal Fountain and the pools at the bottom of Wonder Mountain. I don't know where the access door is for this fountain, but it is certainly the grandest of the three versions of International Street.

[BeeastFarmer]

Thank you. From recollection of around 2018 and prior I never recall seeing the arches barricaded at KI.  To me it looks trashy like some of the legacy six flags parks Ive been to.

I agree that Canada has the most pleasing appearance of the three, but that bridge is a pain to cross.

KD's version is surpassed by ours with our refined look with the decorative white pilasters vs KD's fence. 

However, this is subjective.

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I think the easiest solution would be to paint the "wall" behind each grate black since that's what it looks like without the walls. Looking back at some of the KIC photo albums I can't seem to figure out when those were added. I thought they were only ever there for Winterfest/general Royal Fountain winterization procedures, but now I can't remember. I've always found it interesting that the left two arches are open to let the water pour into them while the rightmost arch has the curb blocking the inflow of water (for obvious reasons). Maybe if I can find one of my photos from this year to see what it looked like during the normal season.

An interesting thought just occurred to me: if those two arches have been barricaded since at least 2019, why were they completely open in 2011? Was it part of the pump system upgrades throughout the years?