Liverpool's Piazza Fountain, the Bucket Fountain, is one of Liverpool's most instantly recognisable landmarks, a playful, fun piece of public art.

The fountain was listed by the Government in 2019 and Historic England drew attention to it as one of the most notable and fascinating listings of that year.

Sadly neglected for many years, the fountain now needs major repairs, particularly to the mechanisms that fill and tip water in beautiful cascades.

Merseyside Civic Society commissioned the fountain in 1962 and we are now partnering with Engage Liverpool and the Friends of The Piazza Fountain to ensure its restoration. The first step was to commission a Condition Report (JPS Restoration for Industrial Heritage consulting Ltd) which outlined the restoration needs of the actual Fountain as well as the viewing platforms, pump room and the receiving pool.

This gave us a number of restorations options from which, following a public consultation, detailed proposals were developed. A Structural Engineering report (Clancy Consulting), has confirmed that the underground car park can support the weight of the increased water depth.

An Expression of Interest for National Lottery Heritage Funding was submitted in April 2023 and the NLHF have asked for more clarity on the future management and maintenance arrangements for the Fountain before they will consider our bid. We are therefore looking to produce an Options Appraisal re management and are hoping to engage with both the Leaseholder and the Freeholder over the coming months.

Autumn 2024 update - we now have a full set of dimensional drawings of the fountain from Williamson Technical Surveys who gave us a generous discount on this work. We are currently testing a new seal to stop the buckets leaking with Winleafe Precision Engineers who are undertaking the testing free of charge.

READ MORE about our restoration plans

Having successfully raised funds of £12,250 to cover all the preliminary survey and report costs, we are now asking you to dig deep once again to help us provide match funding for our Heritage Fund bid and to fund a temporary makeover of the fountain (including concrete repairs and a repaint) with the aim of getting the fountain back up and running by Spring 2025. This is possible by the very generous donation of investigative and concrete repair work by Tony Folan, a specialist builder and founder member of the Friends of the Piazza Fountain, as well as tidying up and repairing the Pump Room. Residents of Beetham Plaza and the local community will also help with the repaint.

A temporary Information Board will also be installed on site to tell people about the fountain and our restoration plans.

All funds raised are held securely by Merseyside Civic Society in a restricted fund for the sole purpose of restoring the Fountain and funding the current repaint.

Your gift, however small, will play a vital part in preserving this unique piece of Liverpool history for future generations.

Many thanks