For the last decade, the most prominent landmark in downtown Columbia hasn’t been the Statehouse dome or the pristine Horseshoe — it has been a dry, rotting concrete cliff face where a waterfall used to be.
When I was a child, Finlay Park was the exception to Columbia’s expected mediocrity. The cascading wall of water roared like a river, drowning out the noise of the traffic — an escape from the hustle and bustle of the city. It felt like a legitimate city center: a place where the community actually converged rather than just passed through.
I went back a few months ago, just before the construction fences went up. The silence was heavy. The waterfall had been dead since 2015, the basin empty save for decaying leaves and plastic bags. The grass had surrendered years ago…