The fountain behind Neptune Hall has not been in operation recently because of a persistent clogging problem.

Vice President of Finance and Facilities Bob Albanese said it has been frustrating for those involved trying to solve the problem.

“Nobody can figure it out,” Albanese said. “Our concern is how to get it to work continuously.”

There is no set date for when the fountain will be up and running.

The fountain would run as planned but clogs up and stops repeatedly, Albanese said.

Albanese said the original design prevented a clogging problem.

“Somewhere between designing it and putting it together it just didn’t work,” he said.

As part of the $8.5 million Storm Water Improvement Project, which covered the draining and dredging of campus lagoons, the Watson Creek fountain began operating in fall 2003.

The goal of the project, according to a press release, is to reduce flooding around campus. In 1998 NIU sustained flooding damages totalling $1 million that affected the Music Building, Faraday Hall, Anderson Hall and Neptune Hall.

The project also aimed at improving the ecosystem in the area.

“Life in the East Lagoon really improved,” Albanese said.

As an additional benefit the fountain enhanced the aesthetics of the campus, Albanese said.

Charles Sticha, who will attend NIU in the fall, thinks of the area as peaceful but did not initially think the fountain was part of a creek.

“I thought it was a swamp,” Sticha said. Sticha also thinks the creek looks unkept.