The Parks Department is continuing to rehab the old 1964 World’s Fair structures at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, breaking ground on the reconstruction of the New York State Pavilion Observation Towers last week.
“The work we are breaking ground on today will go a long way toward restoring the iconic New York State Pavilion to its former glory,” Queens Borough President Melinda Katz said in a statement.
“This work will enable future generations to continue to enjoy the Pavilion’s distinctive Space Age architecture and be reminded about the important role the 1964-65 World’s Fair played in Queens history.”
The structures in the World’s Fair area, most notably the Unisphere, have become Queens landmarks. The $24 million project, funded by Katz, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Councilmember Franciso Moya, will see the towers’ bases waterproofed, electrical upgrades, structural preservation measures and stair replacement.
11 comments:
Not much left to rehab. The terrazzo map of NY State is largely destroyed, the fiberglass roof panels are long gone, as are the two elevators.
Oooooh! Lights for the Pavilion. Wow! $24 million!!????
capital projects are always honest graft. the ruin could be spfiffed up for a few million. The rest is honest graft.
24 million for a light show? Tear theses POS’s down already. Shea is gone, Yankee Stadium gone, now it’s their turn.
24mm. SMDH. Enough already!
Not a real Worlds Fair.
^anon in the context of that comment the sidebar quote seems apt. Another waste of my taxpayer dollars so what - some old codgers can remember the faded glory of their childhood? Tear those rusting eyesores down and let it just be empty green space, which we can never have enough of.
“Another waste of my taxpayer dollars so what - some old codgers can remember the faded glory”
Pretty much sums it up.
My childhood:
Me: Mom, what are those things?
Mom: They’re from the old worlds fair.
Me: Cool, can we go there?
Mom: No, it’s been closed for years.
Me: ???
I'm betting this will turn out to be another Wollman Skating Rink ripoff. You're gonna need The Donald.
I remember the Fair. Loved it. I remember being confused by the pointless NY State Pavilion. It looked unfinished. It wasn't cool. It wasn't interesting. You got wet when it rained. There wasn't anything on display worth looking at. The map of Texaco stations on the floor couldn't be appreciated because you could only see the space around your feet - and with so many other people walking on it, it might just as well have been linoleum. Philip Johnson or not, it was a dud. Spend $24 million, it will still be ugly. And pointless.
What a waste of money. How about using that money to redo the court house on sutphin? Last time I went there for July duty 5 years ago, that thing was not good. I went into a jury room that had no air conditioning and the water fountains didnt even work. It needs to be redone if it hasnt since then.
You guys can be fools sometimes. A landmark like this can't be measured in money. They're the closest thing we've got to ancient ruins. The entire world knows Queens by these towers and the Unisphere.
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