MIDTOWN — The New York Public Library is planning to add lights and water jets to the historic fountains that sit outside its main Fifth Avenue branch to make them more noticeable to passersby, officials said.
Beauty and Truth, the matching male and female statues and fountain pools that flank the main staircase leading to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue between West 40th and West 42nd streets, got a major overhaul last summer including new pipes, pumps and drains — all of which allowed water to flow from them for the first time in three decades.
Now the library is hoping to draw more attention to them by adding lights so they are visible at night, and installing jets in the fountains' bowls, according to library spokeswoman Angela Montefinise.
The new additions will have to pass a review process by the Landmarks Preservation Commission — which includes a public presentation before the Community Board 5 Landmarks Committee on May 31.
If LPC approves the changes, the library is looking to finish the work by the end of the year, according to the spokeswoman.
Montefinise did not disclose how much the new lights and water jets will cost, but as with last year’s renovations, funding will come from a gift from Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust.
Wilson, a philanthropist who committed suicide in 2013 after a decline in health, donated more than $90 million to the New York Public Library throughout his lifetime, according to the New York Times.
The Landmarks Committee of Community Board 5 will meet at 6 p.m. on May 31 at the second-floor library at Xavier High School, 30 W. 16th St. between Fifth and Sixth avenue.
