For such a glamorous beginning, Jubilee Fountain in the Brisbane River sure did have a disappointing demise.

The fountain, which was installed close to Victoria Bridge, was built to honour Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee visit in March 1977.

Her Majesty herself got to flick the switch amid a flotilla honking horns, bringing the attraction to life.

It was a right royal to do.

The Silver Jubilee Fountain, designed by the same architect who created the Queensland Performing Arts Complex, was a triangular shape of 30 large diameter pipes, all welded together.

It shot water high into the air, and at night it lit up the city skyline with more than 90 lights.

It quickly became a river city landmark, gushing "regally" in front of the Queensland Cultural Centre.

Its mighty jets of water featured on postcards — an attention grabber built to honour a monarch.

But less than a decade later, it was gone.

So what happened to it?

Curious Brisbanite Emma Leitch asked us to find out what became of the famed fountain.

Long story short, it sank.

Brisbane's muddy river was to blame, with the sediment continually clogging the fountain's pumps.

Sorry, this video has expired Queen Elizabeth II opens the Jubilee Fountain

Retired senior electrical engineer Alan Rider, who helped install the fountain, said it began to look a little lop-sided in 1980.

"It started to sink in one corner," Mr Rider said.

"The result was it was disconnected and dragged ashore and repaired and went back out in the river. Everyone was happy.

"Then about two years later it also developed the desire to submerge again only to a greater degree."

In 1984 it sank due to a cracked weld in the main flotation chamber.

"So in true Bjelke-Petersen style it disappeared one night never to be seen again," he joked.

Mr Rider said in the beginning the fountain was "quite marvellous".

By 1980 the fountain was no longer running continually due to its high power consumption. ( Supplied: Brisbane City Council )

But he also recalls a phone call from the State Works Department in 1980, when he was asked to calculate its running costs.

The majestic tribute was sucking up 600 kilowatts in energy consumption every hour.

It sparked a scrooge-like response from the public service bean-counters of the day.

"The result of that was, instead of it running continuously, it ran two hours in the middle of the day, some days," Mr Rider said.

"And some evenings, but not every evening.

Would the Queen care? Probably not

Architectural historian Don Watson said the fountain was a "tricky design proposition".

"Equivalent ones like in Geneva had the level of the lake being constant, not tidal," Mr Watson said.

"So here all the equipment machinery and the links back to services had to go up and down with the tide.

"They kept spending money and doing research on how best to cope with it. But it was a fairly onerous brief.

"It was expecting a lot."

The fountain was last seen in 1984. ( Supplied: Brisbane City Council )

Mr Watson said Brisbanites and monarchists alike were very fond of the Jubilee Fountain.

"There was a certain nostalgia for it and a sorrow it had not been reinstated," he said.

By all accounts Buckingham Palace was never officially notified.

So would the Queen care 30 years later?

"I very much doubt it," Mr Watson said.

"If we are lucky there is a photo in the Queen's album of the [opening] event" said Mr. Watson.

"Whether she looks at it, I would be surprised."

'The hard decision was made to put it down'.

It was premier Mike Ahern who officially scuttled the project in 1988.

The lowest tender to get the fountain gushing again was going to cost $300,000.

"Expo 88 concluded and this particular fountain was very expensive to maintain and keep it in a workable order so we decided to sink the ship," he said.

The fountain lit up at night with 90 lights. ( Facebook: Lost Brisbane )

"The costs were prohibitive and unwarranted. The hard decision was made to put it down."

It came as the government wrote off $150 million in debt to build the South Bank Parklands.

"That is a memorial to a lot of things," Mr Ahern said.

New fountain on the cards

But so beautiful was the original fountain, the Brisbane City Council has its heart set on lighting up the night sky with powerful jets of water once again.

It has set aside $4 million for a river-based fountain near the Brisbane sign which sits on the cultural forecourt.

Field Services Committee Chair Councillor Peter Matic said council has attracted at least half a dozen bold "high-tech" designs through the tender process.

But the project has stalled due to the South Bank masterplan and the Queen's Wharf Development, which has a proposed walkway near the fountain site.

"It is unfortunate, so at this point we just have to hold and wait," Cr Matic said.

The new water feature will not honour royalty, but one of Queensland's most famous artists, Daphne Mayo.

The final concept will be selected for its ability to deal with the Brisbane River's muddy sediment issues and massive tidal flows — so it is essentially "sink proof".

Artist impression for proposed Daphne Mayo fountain. ( Supplied )