Fountain for the Old Home In Italy

Boston Daily Globe
3 May 1915

Natives of Torre Le Nocelle in Boston the Donors
Handsome Gift Now in East Boston will be Shipped this Month

A mile long acqueduct and a beautiful stone fountain are the gifts which Boston Italians coming from the town of Torre Le Nocelle are making to their birthplace. The aqueduct and several smaller fountains are already complete and the big fountain, which is to adorn the center square of the town, is now set up at 158 Orleans st, East Boston, and will be sent to Italy about the middle of the month.
The architect of the fountain, chosen in competition, was Edward Ardolino, and it was C.C. Ardolino who went to Italy to construct the acqueduct. The fountain is 23 feet high and about 12 feet in diameter. Its construction required four carloads of stone, donated by Norcross Bros Company.
The fountain has a base 24 feet in diameter and is set on a platform two feet above the grade line. It is square in shape, with four entrances, each having three steps. The bowl, 12 feet in diameter, has eight sprinklers, of which four are for drinking purposes and four for home use.
On top of the bowl is a large rock about nine feet high and 7½ feet wide, decorated with four dolphins, emblems of love and kindness, each with a two inch pipe in its mouth, through which issues water for home use. On each of the four elevations of the rock is a cartouche, later to be inscribed, and on the front elevation is a clock, decorated with oak and laurel.
Above the rock is a base holding a four foot tower representing the town of Torre. At the top of the tower is an eagle, emblem of the United States holding in its claws a large chain and cornucopia, symbolic of the power of the united people to shower wealth on their native town. The committee of citizens responsible for the gift was headed by Giuseppe Bevilacqua. Next Sunday a banquet will be given at 158 Orleans st. to all who were interested in the affair.