1 week Ago By Damon Caldwell
The former Lasker Rink and Pool area at the park's north end, a landmark since the 1960s, is now the Davis Center at the Harlem Meer. The Central Park Conservancy has completed its biggest project yet, unveiling a new pool and refreshed green space for the public to enjoy, according to ABC7 New York. "Standing outside the construction fence, they're like, 'oh, yeah, they're building a new pool, a new rink,' but once they move into the space, they'll realize that we rebuilt a whole section of the park.
And that experience is what they're going to be amazed by," Central Park Conservancy Director of Construction David Turner told ABC7 New York. Come summertime, it will host the city's eighth-largest swimming pool and pivot to an ice-skating rink come winter. In spring and fall, the area transforms into a turf space for an array of outdoor activities, ensuring no season is left without accessible and engaging charm for the community.
Harlem residents, long awaiting a revival of their local recreational hub, are amongst the most eager. "I'm excited about the Davis Center because it is a recreation area that I miss deeply," Kristen Lasky, a local, conveyed her sentiment in a statement obtained by ABC7 New York.Details of the new facility and its features were unveiled through renderings provided by Time Out New York.
It reveals how seamlessly the Davis Center integrates with its verdant surroundings, promising a holistic experience of leisure and landscape. "The Davis Center is the culmination of the Central Park Conservancy’s more than 40 years of restoration and investment in Central Park’s north end, and this new facility and reimagined landscape is one of the most beautiful and innovative additions to the city’s civic infrastructure in decades," Betsy Smith, president and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy, stated confidently to Time Out New York. And with a diverse range of majority free and low-cost programming slated to roll out throughout the year, the Davis Center is poised to become a locus for community engagement and wellbeing, from wellness and fitness classes to nature-related activities.
The excitement culminates next weekend at the grand opening, where New Yorkers will witness firsthand the fruits of roughly four years of development and a significant $160 million investment, a portion of which was contributed by the city..
