The Friends of Goodale Park will drain the park’s pond Sunday to make way for a new fountain being installed next spring.

Malcolm Cochran, an art professor at Ohio State, was selected to design the new fountain and has been active in planning the event.

“Pull the Plug” will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the pond in the Victorian Village park. Workers will pull the plug at 3:15 p.m.

“The event is to celebrate community involvement,” said Ben Fortman, program manager of the Humanities Scholars Program at OSU, “and as an inaugural for the new fountain.”

The celebration is circus-themed to reflect the theme behind the new fountain’s design and celebrate the neighborhood’s history with the Sells Brothers Circus.

There will be children’s face painting and a dog costume show, said Garett Heysel, senior associate director of the Honors and Scholars Program at OSU and an organizer of the event.

SPACES, OSU’s sculpture club, has been involved alongside Cochran and will be volunteering Sunday with a variety of activities. OSU’s Diversity Group has also volunteered mornings at Goodale Park, said Stan Sells, president of Friends of Goodale Park.

Friends of Goodale Park is a non-profit organization that works year-round alongside Columbus Recreation and Parks to maintain the park. Planning for a new fountain began in 2004.

Sells said the new project is estimated to cost $240,000.

After researching the history of Goodale Park, Cochran took interest in the Sells Brothers’ Mansion at Denison Avenue and Goodale Street and the rich history of the traveling circus that stayed in Columbus during the winter months.

“The traveling circus was known for their troops of elephants,” Cochran said. “I thought maybe I could get them in the design somehow.”

The new fountain is a four-tiered, cylindrical design with water cascading down the sides and two bronze elephants at the top spouting water.

Goodale Park is one of the earliest urban green spaces in the United States.

“There was a movement in the early 1800s to have a more naturalized park which would mimic nature,” Cochran said. “One of the major aspects of the plans of those parks was curvilinear paths; if you think of Goodale, there is not a single straight path.”

Considering Goodale’s design, the new fountain will be sculpted so it can be seen from multiple viewpoints; there is no primary view. The Friends of Goodale Park and Cochran agreed that the fountain will run water year-round to create an ice-sculpture effect in the winter.

Pull the Plug will spearhead the process to replace the current fountain. The pond will remain dry throughout the winter.

“The fish in the pond will be relocated to Schiller Park,” Heysel said. “People have been worried about the fish.”

Local businesses contributing to the event include Three Dog Bakery, West Minister Thurber, Black Olive Restaurant, Gateway Film Center, The Cookware Sorcerer, Eleni-Christina Bakery, vitaminwater, Yankee Trader and Posh Pets. Ray Arébalo will serve as disc jockey.

Donor cards will be available Sunday to anyone interested in contributing to the project.