The Restoration of Bethesda Terrace Arcade

Earlier today, the city's Parks & Recreation department and the Central Park Conservancy cut the ribbon on the restoration of Central Park's Bethesda Terrace Arcade. As we mentioned yesterday, the tiles were removed from the Arcade's ceiling more than 20 years ago due to severe damage. While two panels were restored in 1998 and 2002, it wasn't until the Central Park Conservancy was given $3.5 million by Evelyn West that the rest of the tiles could be restored.

While the conservancy restored as many tiles as possible, there were some tiles that were damaged beyond repair. The new tiles were manufactured by hand by Maw and Company in England. Of the 15,876 original tiles that were removed, only about 10% needed to be fully replaced. The ceiling of the arcade has 49 panels, each with 324 tiles. The restoration was eventually completed at a cost of $7 million. In Gothamist's opinion, it was worth every penny as the Arcade looks beautiful.

See more photos here.

Photos by Tien Mao