Reply Created: 29 April 2021 By James Churchill, Conservator, Kreilick Conservation LLCNow that spring is in the air, we are delighted to reopen the recently restored Step Fountain. Generously funded by the Dietrich Foundation, the restoration project was completed by Kreilick Conservation, LLC with the help of contractors Pullman SST Inc. and PondWorks towards the end of 2020. The fountain houses an unusual yet beautiful pairing of Indiana limestone and Pennsylvania bluestone with a Wissahickon schist and concrete foundation. Subscribe The Step Fountain was designed by the architect, Robert Rodes McGoodwin, a graduate and instructor architect of our very own University of Pennsylvania. A trustee of the School of Fine Arts, he designed Houston Hall, the University Hospital and dormitories, and the Horace Howard Furness Shakespeare Reading Room (now Arthur Ross Gallery) in the renowned Frank Furness library (now Fisher Fine Arts Library). Mostly known for residential design around the Arboretum's neighborhood, he was also involved with the developer of French Village. As with the large majority of early twentieth-century American architects, he was heavily influenced by French neoclassicism, studying under Paul Cret, before travelling to Europe to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and the American Academy in Rome.