If you build it, they will come …

If you're a small town with little else to do, yet can boast about the world renowned bounty of beer-creating crops in the vicinity, what do you do to increase tourism? Waterpark? Country Dinner Playhouse? Unwittingly breed one of the greatest mass-killers in recent memory? Boring!

For Zalec, Slovenia: Build a public beer fountain. The small town of about 5,000 residents recently voted in support of spending close to $400,000 on the endeavor. As a place known for its hops, Zalec decided to ramp up tourism by delivering travelers with openly accessible suds. Though unlike a public water fountain like we'd expect at any one of our parks here, the cold barley soup is going to cost a few bucks each time someone fills up. The price will come to about $7 for every three top-offs (which also comes in a commemorative mug), which is still a decent deal considering the exorbitant prices bars around LoDo or South Broadway try and charge for their uncleaned tap swill.

“It’s true the fountain won't be cheap,” Zalec’s mayor, Janko Kos, tells the Slovenian news website Dnevnik. “But it’s a development project, a tourism project.”

Not everyone is stoked on the endeavor, however. A few residents have expressed concerns about the fountain, claiming there are other issues to be dealt with first, like bringing cleaner tap water to the town. Little they must know, that not only did people prefer beer during the Middle Ages because it was safer than normal drinking water, but moderate boozers also enjoy a boost in their immune systems. 

We'll gladly switch places with the naysayers of the fountain if they want. A sort of, lush exchange program, as it were …