During the Robert Moses administration, the prevailing spirit was to demolish the old and build new, people-centered structures. As a result, the eastern shore of the lake was dramatically reshaped with a cement-slab skating rink and space parking lot. After nearly 50 seasons of ice skating, the Kate Wollman Rink was in ready for refurbishment.
In , the Alliance announced a radical redesign that would integrate the rustic aesthetic of Olmsted and Vaux, the recreational demands of the public, and the energy efficiency requirements of a modern public space. Unlike the Wollman Rink, which was only opened for the winter, the new LeFrak Center at Lakeside would offer programming year round. Learn how to get involved, and stay connected to the Alliance to learn about news and events.
Do you want to learn more about the history of Prospect Park? Presenting a wealth of archival and newly commissioned photography and insightful text, David P.
Colley and Elizabeth Keegin Colley trace the park's colorful history from its creation in the mid-nineteenth century to its decline in the s and restoration over the past several decades. Also visit our news archives for more Park history. It is managed in partnership with the Prospect Park Alliance. Actor Montgomery Clift was buried there at the request of his Quaker mother. The cemetery is closed to the public, but its quiet rows of grey graves can be seen from a fence off of Center Drive by the Nethermead.
The firm implemented increasingly formal park ideas in a Neoclassical style that was not entirely at home with the rustic American pastoral style championed by Olmsted and Vaux. Mark in Venice, was also built around this time. Even more controversial changes were made under Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, who saw parks as places for active play rather than romantic strolls and pastoral civility.
Ambergill Falls, in the Ravine. The decline started after with management and maintenance cutbacks as a result of a decrease to the park budget. By the s, the park was so unkempt and dangerous that it was seen as a hazard rather than a boon to nearby residents. Then the Prospect Park Alliance was formed in , to help maintain and improve the park.
It launched an extensive restoration project for the Ravine in , one area that was particularly rundown, so that its bridges and waterfalls are again close to what Olmsted and Vaux intended.
The Vale of Cashmere is as beautiful as its name. Amidst a once-again-thriving park though, there are still overlooked corners that feel like secret gardens. The Vale of Cashmere, for one—a classical formal garden added in the late 19th century, with a fountain by Frederick MacMonnies in a pond almost lost beneath an overgrowth of plants.
These overgrown spots take you back to another time, when parks were created as more than just picnic grounds or baseball fields, when landscape architecture was first seen as an art, where instead of a canvas there was an unruly terrain, on which each stretch of grass or sudden turn in a forested trail could be like a dash of paint in a sprawling landscape.
Support Us. Donate Your donation helps us expand our reach and be your voice for preservation. Make A Donation. Join Us. Constant Contact Use. Please leave this field blank. Written by David P. Colley, with photographs by Elizabeth Keegin Colley, the detailed account is the first ever monograph about Prospect Park, and it's sure to teach even the most frequent park visitors something new.
We chose 25 of the most interesting and little-known facts to highlight here, but we're also giving one reader the chance to learn them all by giving away a copy of the book.
To enter, simply send your name and a photo of your favorite place in Prospect Park to tips curbed. Bonus points if you take the photo yourself.
East Drive follows an old Native American trail that branched off of a larger path that ran between what are now Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. Even in the 19th century, Manhattanites had beef with Brooklyn. An guidebook of New York "urged visitors 'to flee the narrow, dirty and disagreeable place. Prospect Park was developed largely without interference from politicians because state laws allowed the the Brooklyn Park Commission, with James Stranahan as commissioner, to do whatever it pleased.
It didn't worry about cost overruns and spent a lot of public money on the park, making it extremely unpopular. Before the park was built, nearby farmers would let their animals roam freely on the land, and they had to be constantly rounded up and returned to their owners. This was a problem even after the park opened in In , 44 pigs, 35 goats, 18 cows, and 23 horses were impounded. Olmsted may be given the most credit for Prospect Park, but it was Vaux who created most of the designs.
He's responsible for the arches, the Concert Grove, bridges, and rustic shelters that blend into the landscape. He also created several other structures that have since been demolished.
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