Patent ID: 7845580

Claim:
A fountain base for supporting a statue on top of a disappearing water fountain, comprising: a basin sized and configured to be handled by hand as an integral unit; an access lid comprising multiple independently removable panels configured to be supported at or near a top side of the basin; a statue stand located within the basin comprising a first surface to support a heavy statue weighing at least several hundred pounds independent of the presence of the removable panels in the basin and a second surface to support the access lid; wherein the access lid permits maintenance access to the interior of the basin without having to remove the statue from the statue stand; wherein each independently removable panel of the access lid is supported along a first side by the basin and along a second side by the second surface of the statute stand; and wherein the independently removable panels of the access lid are configured for removal from the basin while the statute stand remains located within the basin with the statue supported by the statue stand.