Brush Creek Fountains
Brush Creek has a long history of flooding through the Country Club Plaza. One of the most damaging events occurred on September 12, 1977, when intense rainfall caused the creek to rise rapidly and flood businesses throughout the area. The disaster became a turning point in how Kansas City approached Brush Creek.
In the years that followed, civic leaders pursued major flood-control improvements. Work beginning in the early 1990s reshaped the creek through the Plaza, making it safer and more functional while also changing the appearance of the waterway.
In 1998, three large geyser fountains were installed along Brush Creek as part of those improvements. One is located near the gondola dock at Ward Parkway and Wyandotte Street. A second is just east of Ward Parkway and Baltimore Avenue. The third is between Brookside Boulevard and Oak Street.
Other improvements included circulation pumps and aerator fountains designed to improve water quality. Together, these projects helped transform Brush Creek into the public space visitors recognize today.
The fountains are now familiar features of the Country Club Plaza, but their history is tied directly to the larger effort to improve Brush Creek after decades of flooding.
