Claude Pepper Fountain to Flow Only Part Time

A fountain honoring the late Rep. Claude Pepper and his wife, Mildred, officially opened Wednesday at Bayfront Park, but costs will force the city to operate the memorial only part time. The $3.2-million fountain costs so much to run--$42 an hour for electricity alone--that the city will operate it about four hours a day during the week and six hours a day on weekends.

It has four types of water jets, all computer-controlled, which combine for dozens of different actions--waves crashing over a breakwater, early morning fog by the sea or a whirlpool, for example.