Change Funds Naperville Fountains

The Naperville Riverwalk has collected more than $1,000 in change from three fountains every year since 2013, according to the Naperville Sun.

In the warmer months people toss their change into three fountains on the Naperville Riverwalk: the "Dandelion fountain", the Exchange Club Memories Fountain and the horse trough fountain.

"We used to collect closer to $1,500 from the fountains around 2005 and 2006 – before the recession," Chuck Papanos, the Riverwalk's park operations manager, told the Naperville Sun.

The park district makes monthly collections of the coins and uses the funds to maintain the fountains and conduct other riverwalk maintenance. That maintenance isn't cheap. The Dandelion fountain must be painted every two years at a cost of $400.

Papanos said the fountains generate enough revenue to be financially self-sufficient.

Here are the totals from the last four years:

• 2013-$1,037.25
• 2014-$1,283.73
• 2015-$1,090.90
• 2016-$1,075.50

Papanos said he wasn't too concerned about people collecting coins from the fountains.

"We monitor it," Papanos told the Naperville Sun. "If we see a child with wet front pockets, we know they probably have change."

Image via Shutterstock