The Pulitzer Fountain was one of the biggest projects that I managed at SFDS. This one took a huge crew and months of effort to design, build, and install. There was a host of animals that made up the display, some were static and others were dynamic and animated. From the top down were a 9’ animatronic snow leopard, a bathing polar bear, and a skating polar bear. Lemurs were climbing a lamppost and flamingos flying in Christmas lights. Penguins could be found sitting and waving or skateboarding in the fountain. One penguin skidded around an igloo on a trash can lid. There was a seal spinning a present on its snout and another popping up from a hole in the ice.

There were hundreds of hours spent caving, surfacing, and painting. Our engineers created closed-loop tracks and mechanics to operate moving parts. There were thousands of lights and an interactive button that made the showering polar bear scrub its back. Our display won awards and we were so thrilled to have taken on this project. I think the main thrill was the teamwork we developed, the skills and knowledge that we were able to pass along to one another, and the joy that it brought the season’s visitors and the New York residents during the holiday.