Fans of classic comedy will recall with affection the famous scene in Fawlty Towers when Basil Fawlty makes his second attempt to hang a gigantic stuffed moose head on the wall of the hotel’s reception lobby.
Triumphantly, he shouts: “Mr Moose is up. It's done, done, done” - whereupon
the moose falls on Basil's head – “It's down again.”
Something similar – though nowhere near as funny – is the farce surrounding Boston’s “lasting legacy” of the Queen’s Jubilee “our magnificent fountain."
Collectors of tales of Boston Borough Council’s classic clangers will recall that the  £1,400 fountain was turned on early in June only to be removed a few days later when it fell apart after a couple of teenaged girls climbed on it.
Teenagers? In a park? Climbing on things?
Who would have dreamt of that?
On Friday – almost five months later – Boston Borough Council’s website trumpeted the return of a restored fountain heavily reinforced with steel tubing, cement and expanding foam – “to hold everything in position and rock steady.”
Yet this time – within hours, not days – police reported  two youths seen  “misbehaving on the fountain”  … which disturbed the upper section, including the pipework, and made it necessary to  remove the top piece of stonework.
It’s reckoned that it cost £800 to beef the fountain up – and possibly another £200 to repair the latest damage.
The return of the fountain followed a persistent campaign by Independent Boston Borough Councillor Carol Taylor.
“But,” she told Boston Eye, “to see it vandalised within hours of completion is a tragic reflection of the low life within our society. The fact is that there are so many Bostonians who are keen to make a difference and improve our town but are then met with such destruction from a very small group of miscreants.
“The fountain – whilst not being what we would call ' top of the range ' – was still fit for purpose, and provides a lovely focal point especially where it is. The two men from Fen Road have clearly worked hard to make this fountain stronger, but my request is to give it one more try for repair and if it happens again, I will personally dismantle it myself!
“I have spoken to several people who are willing to offer donations to sponsor the repairs so that the cost does not come from the public purse.
“Why am I so passionate about this? It is not about the structure, condition or aesthetics of the project, it is about whom it is dedicated to.
"Alternatively we could scrap this fountain and purchase an industrial one. Perhaps we could use the some of the money obtained from the sale of the Assembly Rooms!"
Boston Eye  disagrees with Councillor Taylor.
The fountain was paid for by BTAC – the Boston Town Area Committee – which has just completed a campaign that saw the removal of dozens of amenity benches for no reason other than – in some cases – people were sitting on them and having a drink. We know that there were extreme examples of anti-social behaviour associated with the benches in some cases – but not all … yet BTAC adopted a one size fits all approach to the problem.
The fact that this fountain has been damaged twice in such a short time raises a number of questions for BTAC to take on board.
First and foremost …. Even with reinforcement, is the fountain fit for display in a public area? It is a domestic rather than “industrial” model, and as such not intended for climbing.
Secondly … whilst the word vandalism is being freely bandied around, there is no proof so far that the damage was caused deliberately.
In the first instance it was said to involve two 13 year-old girls – scarcely, we should have thought, vandalette material – and in the latest event, two youths were seen  “misbehaving” on the fountain, according to the police.
We don’t condone criminal damage.
But Boston’s Central Park abounds with attractions that invite youngsters to climb on them, and it may be that the fountain was seen as yet another … and climbed on accordingly.
And what about public liability insurance? We could envisage a hefty claim coming the way of the council in the event that anyone “larking about” on the fountain was injured if a section fell and injured them.
We think that it’s time to call it quits, remove the existing fountain, and if public opinion so demands replace it with something fit for the job.
Perhaps the present one could find a home in the council’s West Street Atrium Art Gallery?
One thing that you can almost guarantee  is that if the fountain is repaired yet again instead of than third time lucky -  it’ll all end in tiers as before.

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