Nearly Naked Mile leaves broken Showalter fish in wake

Another fish in the Showalter Fountain is down, and this time IU Curator of Campus Art Sherry Rouse knows the culprit - more than 2,000 students racing in the Nearly Naked Mile.

Rouse arrived to the destruction scene at 6 a.m., about seven hours after the fish fell into the fountain because of students playing in the fountain during the race Monday.

“Guys were there from midnight or after,” Rouse said. “It took several people all night long to get it back up.”

The statue was broken from it’s base, and workers had to drain the pool and re-weld the fish.

“It’s not up and running, but it will be soon,” Rouse said. “It’s reattached. Mutilated, but nonetheless reattached.”

The fountain will be shut down after this weekend for winter repairs and cleaning, Rouse said.

So far, IU has had to pay at least four workers overtime while they fixed the statue, Rouse said, and more expenses are to come.

“Everything has an expense associated with it, this will just add onto the fix we were planning over the winter anyway,” Rouse said.

With potential students, families and alumni visiting campus daily, Rouse said the act is a devastating form of vandalism.

“I want to put it back together the best we can so we won’t disappoint any of the alumni,” she said.

Though Rouse is in charge of fixing the statue, she said she does not know what consequences will result from the accident.

“My personal feelings are that there should be consequences,” she said. “My job is to take care of the fish and not the students. I can’t stop a mob of students, but I can certainly make it harder for them.”