From the NY Times:If you’ve ever parked by the marina in Flushing to see a Mets game, you may have been struck by the whimsy and drama of two white shelters that sit by the bay, structures that look as if their creator had been issued the challenge to design igloos that could take wing. Futuristic and fiberglass, they are too small and fanciful to rise to the level of something you would call a building, but they have a functional feel that suggests they are not pure sculpture.
Maybe you’ve wondered exactly what they are doing there, or even gone so far as to read the parks department sign nearby, which says they were once bus shelters at the 1964 World’s Fair. Perhaps you went a step further, wondering why two bus shelters would be so far from the road.
Upon seeing the shelters for the first time, on her way to a ballgame with Mr. Lukas, Ms. Hively jumped up and down with delight. Mr. Lukas snapped a few dozen photos with a camera he carries. Some couples take their relationships to the next level by adopting a pet. Ms. Hively and Mr. Lukas adopted a pet project: to unearth the story behind the shelters, which the parks department sign informed them were called the Candela Structures, after the Spanish architect Felix Candela, who, the sign said, designed the Mexican Pavilion at the fair.
They discovered that Mr. Candela had not designed the Mexican Pavilion (it was Pedro Ramirez Vásquez), and that the structures were never bus shelters, but instead, hospitality and information centers at the fair for the Coast Guard and a couple of outboard-motor brands.
“We eventually learned that every piece of information on the sign was wrong,” said Mr. Lukas...
You gotta love a Parks Department that doesn't know the history of one of its own flagship parks.
4 comments:
Duh....these were information, Telephone and snack table shelters during the 1964 Worlds Fair.
The large one in the photo near the Marina sheltered snack tables.
The Sinclair Oil Dock and Tent that was next to it was floated to Port Washington and is now LaMotta's restaurant and Marina. The original Red and White roof is still on it. He as all the flags also
"parks department sign informed them were called the Candela Structures, after the Spanish architect Felix Candela"
I think they were designed by the great Sal Candela as a shelter for his fake attorney friend to sleep in.
Flushing Meadows has/had great ruins from the Worlds Fairs. This is one of them. In recent years, with the turnover of much of the park to the USTA, many of the ruins have been removed.
In the former amusement areas the Monorail footings are still in the ground. They appear to be rising up as the ground around them sinks.
There are still outlines where building were due to differeng grass seed.
I have lots of NYS Pavilion Kewall panels, globes and parts I'm saving in safe keeping. Even a naugahide chair from Moses bar "Spankys" that was on deck one.
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