The fountain has finally found a home on Banyan Street

It has taken a little bit and the road to finding the Alzamora statue has been fraught with changes … but a deal has finally been struck. The large iconic water feature, laden with Boca Grande shells, mermaids, mosaic pieces of tile and concrete, will find a new home on Banyan Street.

Sally and Tim Downey will be the new keepers of the water feature and have been working with Steve Hazeltine to get it transported to their home, set up in just the right place and to make it functional.

There were almost 30 people interested in the fountain, including many island residents who just wanted to make sure it found a safe home. The list was slowly whittled down as potential takers realized the size and weight of the creation by Grace Alzamora. Grace and her sister, Mariana, lived on Tarpon Street next door to each other for many years. When they moved, the fountain stayed. In 2014 Michael Moffat purchased Mariana’s home and had Grace’s fountain “airlifted” by crane and front endloader to his house. Just moving it one house over was quite the feat, so moving it from Tarpon Street to Banyan Street will be quite a sight to see.

For a short time Ken and Jennifer Burch were going to have the fountain relocated to North Carolina where their daughter, Becca, has a store called The Mountain Mermaid. Becca played in the fountain as a child with her friend, one of the Alzamora sisters’ girls. However, in the end they determined it was too heavy and fragile to make the move so they gave it to the next person on the list – Sally.

After going over what needed to be done with Hazeltine, Sally decided she was up for the challenge. 

The new owners of the home where the fountain is still living have graciously extended its time there to compensate for the preparation it will take to get ready for such a move. 

Many thanks to everyone who helped facilitate the fountain’s preservation and finding it a new home, including Angela Steffan, Michael Moffat and Susan Bowers. Also, thank you to everyone who expressed interest in taking such a unique – and heavy – piece of Boca Grande’s culture.

We have to preserve it when and where we can, and so many stepped up to the plate. 

Thank you!