The Ray Charles Fountain and Plaza in Albany, Ga., features a pedestal stage with a fountain and "moat" that protects the lights, speakers and sculpture from tampering. The water cascades over the side, strikes a small ledge and falls back into the lower pool to be recirculated.

In 2005, the city of Albany, Georgia, began a campaign to honor legendary musician and native son Ray Charles with a monument to his life and accomplishments. The city hoped to make this tribute a part of their newly developed RiverFront Park, a gateway to downtown Albany covering the equivalent of two blocks on the banks of the Flint River.

Jordan, Jones and Goulding, Inc., a Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. company, was commissioned to prepare the master plan and construction documents for an urban park plaza commemorating Charles, who was born in Albany. The four-acre plaza became the focal point of a park that also includes picnic shelters, bicycle and pedestrian trails, the riverwalk and the Flint Riverquarium. The team, led by Mack Cain, collaborated with noted sculptor Andy Davis on the park and sculpture design. The team decided that the sculpture needed to be a full-size, life-like bronze representation of Charles in his element – sitting and performing at a life-sized replica of a baby grand piano. The pedestal would become the stage, and would be round, so the statue could be viewed from all angles in the park.

A viewing plaza surrounds the fountain, surfaced with concrete and brick pavers that extend outward and become pedestrian paths. An oversized treble clef is set into the hardscape, and raised musical notes provide additional seating for watching the fountain and sculpture's evening shows.

Pedestal
The pedestal was designed at stage height with colored LEDs and exposed speakers, making it appear as if Charles (1930-2004) were on stage in a live concert. To add a little more life and animation to the effect, the sculpture was set on a revolving platform that slowly turns while his music fills the park. To embellish the animation of the sculpture, the lights gradually change color and reflect off Charles' tinted jacket as the stage turns. The rotation mechanism, pumps and lighting system are all housed in the pedestal under the sculpture and out of view. The sound system is housed in a room built into one of the two park picnic shelters.

The LEDs that surround the sculpture rotate colors during the fountain's nightly shows to enhance the liveliness and excitement of the "nearly live" concert broadcasts. Visitors have compared the sound of the waterfall into the encircling pool to concert audience applause.

Plaza
The "Ray Charles on Stage' attraction is the focal point of a park amphitheater setting within the larger plaza, so everyone in the park has an unobstructed view. The park is designed so that visitors can pick a spot anywhere to relax, listen to the water and witness the nightly performances of one of America's greatest musical talents.

The viewing area includes a giant treble clef set in the paving, musical notes designed as benches and a giant piano keyboard with raised ebony keys as benches. The entire park is designed for visitors to enjoy the views while listening to the music of Ray Charles as it echoes across the banks of the Flint River. Additional features in the plaza include a reference to the Stuart Gorrell lyric "moonlight in the pines" from Hoagy Carmichael's song "Georgia On My Mind." Reflecting Georgia's longleaf pine forests, plantings include illuminated loblollies, longleaf pines, live oaks and grasses. Students from the Georgia Academy for the Blind, who assisted Davis with the sculpture design, also designed a touchable miniature version of the statue that features Braille markings, installed near the main sculpture in the plaza. This unique combination of fountain, sculpture, lights, music, and stage has become a major addition and attraction to the city of Albany's efforts to revitalize their riverfront and bring people to the downtown. Following the plaza's completion in December 2007, the Georgia chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects saluted the project with a Design Award in 2009.