Diana memorial to close, again
 |  Gustafson: "I feel we made a mistake letting people walk in the water." |
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 Queen Elizabeth II opens the memorial to Princess Diana.
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LONDON, England -- The problem-plagued fountain built in memory of Princess Diana is being closed again -- this time because the surrounding grass has been turned into a swamp by water-splashing visitors.
The £3.6 million ($6.6 million) memorial in London's Hyde Park, which opened three months ago, will shut for an unspecified period in the next few weeks so the turf can be replanted.
And now the landscape architect who created the memorial has acknowledged the fountain has design flaws.
American Kathryn Gustafson says she did not expect so many people to flock to the memorial -- nor how many would run, splash and even wash their dogs in it.
"I feel we made a mistake letting people walk in the water. I apologize for that," Gustafson told Britain's Guardian newspaper.
"I thought people would picnic near the memorial, walk by and run their hands through the water, think about their lives, think about Diana," she was quoted as saying.
The fountain, which suffered a series of setbacks in construction, has come in for public criticism since Queen Elizabeth II opened it on July 6 -- almost seven years after Diana's death in an August 1997 car crash in Paris.
But a week after the ceremony, a blocked pump halted the water flow and it was closed for repairs.
Days later, three people -- including a child -- were sent to hospital after slipping in the fountain.
In response, its granite surface was roughened to give it more traction. At the same time, a security fence and cameras were installed and guards were posted at the site -- as were signs warning against walking or running in the water.
In the meantime, maintenance costs soared. The UK government estimates the cost of maintaining the fountain at $250,000 for the first year and $211,000 for each year after that.
Gustafson says she hopes criticism of the fountain will subside and the fence will eventually be removed.
"We just need time to solve the problems," she said.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
