One of Toronto’s most iconic fountains is currently an embarrassing mess

BlogTO
July 18, 2023

A popular Toronto fountain depicting swimming salmon is looking worse for wear. Currently dry and covered in graffiti, its centrepiece metal sculptures are literally fish out of water.

The Salmon Run fountain at Bobbie Rosenfeld Park is seen by millions of tourists per year, positioned right between the CN Tower and Rogers Centre, but anyone passing the fountain these days is being met with an embarrassing pocket of urban decay in one of Toronto's most-travelled areas.

Salmon Run was created by artist Susan Schelle in 1991 and unveiled with the new park just two years after the then-SkyDome opened.

It was operating as recently as 2019, however, its black and green granite terraced waterfall surrounding a group of bronze salmon motifs has fallen into disrepair over the last few years of post-pandemic budget cuts and austerity measures.
salmon run fountain toronto

The fountain was still functioning as recently as 2019. Photo by Jack Landau.

Former Toronto Mayor David Miller tweeted a photo of the fountain's current state, dry and covered in spray paint with messages critical of governments' environmental policies and the continued scars of colonialism.

The City's 3-1-1 service replied to Miller's tweet, stating that it was working on a resolution, but one commenter is not convinced that a quick fix is in the cards.

The fountain went through a previous period of disrepair from 2011 through 2013, when a leaking drainpipe affected the parking garage below. After stagnating due to budget issues, the sculpture and terraced water feature were finally repaired after years of sitting dry and forlorn.

It's evident that the City is unable to keep this fountain maintained for any extended period of time, and one prominent voice wonders if the bill for keeping the Salmon Run installation in clean and working condition should fall on the major tourist destinations that flank the park.

Richard Peddie, who formerly served as president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, called the fountain "beautiful" in a quote tweet of Miller's photo, adding that, "at minimum, Rogers should fix it. Skydome was responsible when I ran it."

Former politician, Adam Vaughan, who has represented the area as both a city councillor and MP, claims the problem runs even deeper, stating that the fountain's construction over three decades ago was a rush job and suggesting things have deteriorated beyond repair.

Vaughan's verdict on the fountain has only triggered another level of discussion, with several commenters calling for a rebuild if that is, in fact, the best option for revitalizing this current eyesore.

Salmon Run was designed to acknowledge the natural heritage of Toronto's now-human-dominated waterfront, but in a way, it has instead become a monument to that same human disregard for ecology, its dry, beached salmon surrounded by spray paint and litter.