The former president of the Canadian Auto Workers union hopes Windsor's labour community and the Brooks family are consulted on the city's plans for the Charles Brooks Memorial Peace Fountain.
Ken Lewenza attended Monday's city council meeting where councillors deferred plans for the fountain.
As AM800 news reported last week, council is discussing two replacement options for the fountain.
The first option is a like-for-like floating fountain at an estimated cost that came in two-years ago between $7-million and $8.1-million while the second option is a land based fountain which in 2022 was estimated to cost between $8.3-million and $9.5-million.
The city was originally looking for a fountain that would operate on the water in the summer and winter so it wouldn't have to be moved in the colder months like the previous one but vendors have said that would be complex and very expensive.
Lewenza believes council needs to maintain the legacy of the fountain as well as its attractiveness and maintaining its enthusiasm.
He says the fountain is important for the city.
"We're interested in city council's final decision and I'm hopeful that we will continue that we will have a fountain that's comparable to the last fountain," he says.
Lewenza says he supports the installation of a new fountain and hopes the city discusses the project with the Brooks family.
"The Brooks family made the ultimate sacrifice and they deserve to be consulted and the labour movement quite frankly, this gives us an opportunity to engage on the significance of Charlie Brooks and the significance of the labour community to Windsor-Essex," says Lewenza.
The peace fountain is named after the late Charles Brooks.
Brooks was president of the United Auto Workers Local 444 and was shot and killed at the union hall on Turner Road in 1977 by a fired Chrysler worker.
Speaking on AM800's The Morning Drive, mayor Drew Dilkens says the city will consult with the labour community.
"I think our friends in labour maybe able to come forward and help us with this project too," he says. "It's an expensive project."
He says the city will continue to look at its options.
"We'll see what the costs come back at and we'll do the consultation and we'll make sure we hit the mark because that's an iconic that Windsorites love," says Dilkens.
In 2022, city council allocated $8-million for a fountain replacement.
The original Peace Fountain was installed in 1978 in the Detroit River alongside Coventry Gardens but was removed from the river for the final time at the end of September 2023.
The fountain has been the backdrop for many memories and photos and city officials said it "hailed as a major technical innovation, as it was the only international floating fountain in the world and had the ability to pump water 70 feet in the air."
When the fountain was installed, the estimated life span was roughly 20-years.