It's been a long time coming: After nearly 50 years of neglect, the city is taking action to determine the future of the Flushing Meadows-Corona Park 1964 World's Fair New York State Pavilion. The Pavilion, designed by architect Philip Johnson and comprised of the Tent of Tomorrow and its three 100-foot-tall modernist observation towers, has fallen into rusty ruin over the past several decades. The Parks Department will be sponsoring three town-hall style meetings this Sunday and Tuesday at the Queens Theatre to present findings from their two studies conducted between 2009 and 2012, which offer suggestions on how to mitigate the effects of several decades of neglect.
The Parks Department will present three options: tear down the structures, stabilize them, or restore them for future use. None of these options are without a hefty price tag, with an estimated cost of $14 million to demolish the structres, and upwards of $70 million to restore them. "It would be an act of architectural vandalism to tear it down," the NYDN quotes "Tomorrow-Land" author Joseph Tirella. "It's part of New York City's legacy." The structures continue to be fodder for media. Matthew Silva of grassroots pro-preservation group People for the Pavilion is working on a documentary about the aging structures called Modern Ruin. Silva will soon launch has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his efforts. Check out the trailer below, which offers some more insight into its history.
· Parks Plans Public Sessions to Discuss Crumbling World's Fair Site [DNAinfo]
· New York State Pavilion gets ready for its close-up in 2014 [NYDN]
· Organization kicks off campaign to save New York State Pavilion [Times Ledger]
· Modern Ruin· All New York State Pavillion Coverage [Curbed]
Loading comments...