The Poindexter Fountain

This Kansas City fountain is located just below the tongue-in-cheek public art installation Rodin Rodannadanna that adorns the Poindexter Building and parking structure. The fountain incorporates the bull and bear sculptures that originally were located adjacent to the now-demolished Gibraltar Building at 818 Wyandotte. In 1997, a project transformed the Poindexter office building into a 1,000-space parking garage that included a small recessed open-air court in front of the building where the sculpture and fountain are now located.

Located in the heart of downtown Kansas City, the Poindexter Building and Parking Structure opened in the late 1990s after a significant renovation project was completed. In addition to the functional aspects of the building and parking garage, the design included several aesthetic features, including a sunken entry court that provides easy approaches to the lobby and a landscaped outdoor terraced foyer, which doubles as a green space. Included in that space are the Rodin Rodannadanna Sculpture and Poindexter Fountain. 

The fountain consists of the aforementioned bull and bear sculptures along with stone, concrete, and slotted stainless steel troughs. Water flows from the top of the stone pillars into the steel troughs into the pools below. 

The fountain sits below the sculpture titled "Rodin Rodannadanna," by artist Donald Lipski, which features Rodin's "The Thinker" rotated around a circle. As described in The Clio entry titled "Rodin Rodannadanna by Donald Lipski, the sculpture "consists of a circle of 18 life-sized casts of Auguste Rodin's 'The Thinker,' with a title that is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Gilder Radner's character in Saturday Night Live Roseanne Roseannadanna.

"City of Fountains Guide. Part One: Downtown and Crossroads, Poindexter Fountain 9th & Central." Made in Kansas City Explore. mikcexplore.com. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://mikcexplore.com/home/2018/9/25/city-of-fountains-guide-part-one-downtown-and-crossroads. 

"The Poindexter Building and Parking Structure." BNIM. bnim.com. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.bnim.com/project/poindexter-building-renovation-and-garage.

"Poindexter Fountain." City of Fountains Foundation. cityoffountains.org. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://cityoffountains.org/poindexter-fountain/.

Trafton, Robin and Clio Admin. "Rodin Rodannadanna by Donald Lipski." Clio: Your Guide to History. September 8, 2022. https://theclio.com/entry/151472.