It’s a good thing that Miss Fancy, the bronze statue of Avondale’s famous elephant, stands on an elevated pedestal.

If not, she’d be wading in water much of the time.

After it rains, the spring at Avondale Park has been flooding the pond it feeds into and flowing over onto the sidewalks.

“It’s been going on for awhile,” said Jeff McGee, president of the Forest Park/South Avondale Neighborhood Association.”

Birmingham City Council President Darrell O’Quinn said in an interview after the March 29 council meeting that he and council member Valerie Abbott, whose districts are near the park, are aware of the problem.

“It’s a situation that Councilor Abbott and I especially want to see resolved as soon as possible,” O’Quinn said.

“That project is in our capital improvements department and we’re pushing to get them to go ahead and remediate that,” O’Quinn said. “In the meantime, I’ve asked the city attorney’s office to make sure that area is properly barricaded off.”

It’s hazardous for walkers and runners, he said.

“It’s really slick,” O’Quinn said. “There’s mud and algae growing there.”

On Wednesday, city officials with the Parks and Recreation Department notified the Friends of Avondale, a group of neighborhood residents, that they are in the process of hiring a contractor for the project.

“We got word from the city yesterday that they’re about to repair the stoppage,” McGee said.

The Birmingham Parks and Recreation Board plans to hire a company to use high-speed water jets to clear the blockage and cameras to look at drainage areas that need work.

“There is a natural spring in Avondale Park that feeds the pond,” O’Quinn said. “41st Street used to be called Spring Street. The creek that came from the spring used to run down the middle of the street to drain into Valley Creek down at First Avenue South. So, that creek is now in a culvert that runs right under 41st Street, that from time to time the drainage gets blocked.”

The city has to hire outside experts, he said.

“The city doesn’t have the equipment to send a camera down the drainage pipe to identify where the blockage is,” O’Quinn said. “In the past, we’ve hired an outside company to come in and make that determination where the blockage is and have special equipment that can go down and clear the blockage.”

For the sake of Miss Fancy’s friends, neighborhood residents hope it’s resolved soon.

“A couple people have now fallen down there because it’s slippery,” McGee said. “It’s a huge liability for the city.”