The fountain was the brainchild of Dr. William “Bill” Creason, a longtime resident, dentist, and former mayor of Grand Haven.
Designed by a local engineer, William Morris Booth II (who is also the patent holder), and built in 1962 by volunteers at an estimated cost of $250,000, it was the largest musical fountain in the world at that time.
Augmented by curtains of water at the back and front, a large fanlike array called the Peacock, and three fire hose nozzles - one placed vertically in the center, and the others aimed at an angle from each end - the show produces a simple Dancing Waters style display.
Colored lights are arrayed along the front of the fountain in individually controllable groups in red, blue, amber and white, and the back curtain and Peacock sprays have their own lights - green and yellow for the back curtain, and two sets each red, blue and amber for the Peacock.
In 1983 the fountain switched from punch tape to an Allen-Bradley PLC, allowing for better control over the valves and lighting.
Programmers were required to type special commands into a text editor, compile the show script, and then record it out through a 300 baud modem to a four track real-to-real tape unit.