Bruni Plaza fountain renovations left high and dry

 

BY Katherine Eissler

 

 

Once a place for families to enjoy conviviality, the gurgle and splash of flowing water, and a nightly light show, the Bruni Plaza fountain is now a dim, dry memory. Palm fronds and refuse litter the well of the quaint tiled octagonal fountain in the plaza at the corner of San Bernardo and Washington .

Upon the death of Don Antonio Mateo Bruni in 1931, the Laredo City Council paid tribute to Bruni, one of the city's leading businessmen and contributor to the beautification of the plaza, by naming and designating the area as Bruni Park . Previously known as Juarez Plaza , it was a place for families to mingle and enjoy its Italian talavera fountain built in 1930 upon the request of Bruni's daughters Minnie B. Martin and Maria B. Leyendecker.

In a 1993 El Mañana story, former chief librarian Luciano Guajardo recounted that before World War II someone close to Bruni asked permission to construct a building on the property that would house the Chamber of Commerce. Bruni agreed and the first Chamber building was erected shortly after WWII. The Chamber vacated the building to relocate farther north on San Bernardo , and the plaza was then purchased by the City of Laredo in 1974. In 1975 the Laredo Public Library was relocated from its Old Mercado location to the plaza, and in 1989 the structure was remodeled and enlarged by 7,000 square feet.

The former Chamber of Commerce building is currently the site of the city Planning and Zoning Department and Precinct 6 of the Laredo Police Department, as well as the Bruni branch of the Laredo Public Library, which recently celebrated its 5th anniversary as a branch library.

“It was an old custom to go to the plaza when the fountain was working,” said District VIII City Council member Juan Ramirez, a proponent of the fountain's renovation. “It was a place to walk and spend time with your family.”

After previous attempts to repair the dilapidated fountain and the surrounding plaza, the Historical Commission, along with Ramirez, who has spearheaded the project, is finally trying to repair the spot where families once spent Sunday afternoons.

An attempt to repair the fountain using money from the Community Development fund was made in 1985. There were plans to replace the water pump in the fountain at a cost of $12,000 and to repair the broken tiles portraying elaborate scenes of figures on horses.

That project never reached fruition.

In July of 1996, Edward Meza, then executive director of the Webb County Heritage Foundation, wrote to the City's Planning and Zoning Commission with the Foundation's position on the City's decision to eliminate funding for “two very important projects that will impact the city tremendously -- the capital improvements of the City's historic plazas and the City Cemetery.”

Meza said that Bruni Plaza 's fountains and arches were in dire need of repair and that it would behoove the City to honor Bruni, who had willed funds for the plaza's upkeep.

Talks of repairing the plaza's fountain have begun to stir again.

It was among the topics of discussion at a June 2001 City Council meeting at which City Manager Larry Dovalina informed the Council that his staff was working on a proposal for rehabilitation of the fountain. At that time Public Library Director Janice Weber informed the Council that the cost of rehabilitation would be approximately $200,000, according to the Webb County Heritage Foundation. Mayor Betty Flores suggested adding the project to the Capital Improvement Plan.

Ramirez said the project has been stagnant for almost 30 years because the city's Historical Commission wants to repair the fountain to its original condition rather than perform small repairs, on top of the ones that have already been made.

“I hope we can repair it as soon as possible so we can use it again,” said Ramirez.

The Commission will soon be evaluating the cost of the repairs, said Ramirez, adding that once repairs are made the vagabonds who loiter in the plaza will have to move out and police will be assigned to patrol the area.

“If they fix it we will just find somewhere else to go,” said Perry Dubose, a homeless man who frequents the plaza.

Webb County Judge Louis H. Bruni, a descendant of the Bruni family, said the council and Historic Commission cannot seem to put their personalities aside to serve the people's needs. He said that in his eight years on the City Council they could never find the money to fund the project, which was estimated in 2002 at $125,000. Bruni said the council's lack of interest derails the intent of former mayor Albert Martin Bruni's message displayed on the plaques in the plaza, one of which reads, “God has given us political power to be used for the welfare of the people.”

“It's a shame that the council and the Historical Commission can find funding for their pet projects but can't seem to find funding for a very important part of our heritage,” said Bruni. “It's something Laredo needs; we have nothing else like it.”

The tiles that adorn the fountain and archways were imported from Italy , which has made the Bruni Plaza uniquely different from other plazas in Laredo .

“Other plazas aren't run down like this one,” chided Bruni. His own childhood memories of the plaza are filled with vibrant lights and torrents of water, a place where everyone met. Bruni offered to donate a gas pump, but unfortunately the fountain requires an electric unit.

After numerous suggestions on possible funding outlets and donation offers by Bruni himself, he said the effort was never made by the City Council and the Historical Commission and that the responsibility falls in the lap of the mayor, the Parks and Recreation Department, and the council representative of the district.

Mayor Flores said there are no plans to restore the plaza fountain.

“We have been told the work needed is quite expansive and expensive,” said Flores . “I have fond memories of this historical treasure of my youth. I hope someday the Bruni family will help restore it for the people of Laredo to enjoy once again.”

At this point the renovation of the fountain at Bruni Plaza does not seem to be on the agenda of city entities that might have a real stake in its restoration -- neither Parks and Recreation nor Planning and Zoning.