Family members of a late IU benefactor and namesake of the McKinney Fountain were surprised and disappointed that Indiana University didn’t tell them it was going to remove most of the fountain because of costly and frequent repairs.
The Frank E. McKinney Jr. Fountain, located on Eagleson Avenue across from the Jacobs School of Music, started operation in 1997 and was dedicated to McKinney, an IU swimmer who won three Olympic medals and became a prominent banker. News reports from the time said the fountain cost about $700,000.
It's unclear whether McKinney's money went to the fountain. One of his sons, Frank, said his father left a bequest of between $250,000-$500,000 to the university to use as it pleased. The "conductor element" that remains was a gift from McKinney's late wife, Marianne Tobias, as well as James and Katherine Ullyot.
Because there were no restrictions on Frank McKinney's bequest, his son Frank said, IU didn’t have to notify them they were changing the space.
But another of McKinney’s sons, Bob McKinney, said it shows a “lack of respect for the past.”
“It's disappointing, but again, I'm not surprised,” he said. “I think in general, people are selfish when they want what they want, and what you reported to me would demonstrate that. And so, my message would be: call me and communicate, which is the core tenet of life. If we communicated better, we'd have a lot less problems.”
Bob McKinney pointed to another time his father donated to a different organization, the Indianapolis Zoo. When the zoo was upgrading the aquarium area that his father’s money had gone toward, the zoo notified all of his kids and asked for input.
Bob said he understands the need for change can arise but still would’ve liked to be notified that the change was happening.
“I don't think we, as a family, would ever want to get in the way of progress,” he said. “And if that fountain needed to be replaced and something new in its place, we think a prudent thing would be to have a conversation.”
In an emailed statement Thursday, IU spokesman Mark Bode said Jacobs School of Music faculty and staff were notified during a town hall in April. He says “additional stakeholder outreach” occurred last fall.
But McKinney’s kids were unaware the project existed or that most of it was already torn down already.
Tom Kernan, associate dean for the Jacobs School of Music, told WFIU/WTIU News on Wednesday that cracks in the fountain had to be repaired annually. Given how much it would take to continuously repair them, he the time for “demolition” of the fountain had come.
The area is now being reworked, with more outdoor seating to come. Bode said the conductor middle fountain element will be maintained after being cleaned and restored. He said the “structure will retain its overall shape” with more seating, shrubs and lights.
Bode, however, could not provide a rendering of what the space will look like.
Frank McKinney is more empathetic to the students who will no longer have that same space.
“I think the loss of green space, the loss of serenity, the loss of a little garden of Eden, the loss of the Trevi Fountain for Indiana University is the biggest travesty,” he said. “…There's so few places in the concrete jungles that are now college campuses across the U.S. where students go and just chill.”
When asked to respond to these comments, Bode referred WFIU/WTIU News to the IU Foundation. In an emailed statement, Barbara Brosher, senior director of communications for the foundation, said the foundation "respects donor privacy and intent and does not publicly share gift agreements."
