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'It's disturbing and gross': Woman describes fountain at Evergreen Cemetery

Blaine Slagle Jr., a U.S. Army veteran is buried a few feet away from a fountain that used to symbolize hope and bring relief for his daughter. Now, it's a 'disturbing and gross' site, according to the woman.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A Jacksonville woman says she’s been waiting years for a fountain at one of Jacksonville’s oldest and largest cemeteries to get fixed. She feels it’s disrespectful to her loved one buried at Evergreen Cemetery.

Leah Slagle, whose father is buried at Evergreen Cemetery says she’s tired of looking at an eyesore every time she visits her dad “with him being placed by the water it means a lot to me because that’s what he loved to do,” she said.

Blaine Slagle Jr., a U.S. Army veteran is buried a few feet away from a fountain that used to symbolize hope and bring relief for his daughter.

“On my bad days, I would come out here and sit and now I can’t even do that because there’s no fountain here,” she said.

She told First Coaset News it's been an ongoing problem for the past eight years.

“The fountain has been in disrepair for some time; we’re aware of that what we have been doing in the past because it’s not working properly, we’ve been emptying it out cleaning it periodically,” said Michael Ondina, the General Manager at Evergreen Cemetery.

Slagle says the fountain's condition is disturbing. So, we asked Ondina if the fountain will ever get fixed.

“The fountain is not going to be repaired," he said. "It's actually going to be taken out and a new fountain placed there."

Ondina says funding for the project has been approved and construction should start this year.

“We’re very sorry that this has brought her any problems or any negative thoughts towards Evergreen, but I do assure everybody that it’s going to be taken care of,” he said.

Slagle said it should have never taken this long.

“We just want to see it up and running and not in the condition that it’s in," he said.

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