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TONY blog has a report on the most endangered sites in the world. The World Monuments Fund released its 2008 list yesterday, which is packed with far off places.
The U.S. isn't exempt, of course, with a whopping seven endangered structures: the Salk Institute in California, the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Florida Southern University Historic Campus, historic neighborhoods of New Orleans, Route 66, Main Street Modern, Tutuveni Petroglyph Site in Arizona and our very own New York State Pavilion in Queens.
The Flushing monument was created for the 1964 World’s Fair by Phillip Johnson. The WMF descibes it as "an icon to some, an eyesore to others, this remarkable complex, including the ‘Tent of Tomorrow’ is endangered by neglect and indifference as much as by rust.” There have been efforts made to save the pavilion, many asking what to use it for, and the city even put in $24,000 for a partial reconstruction, but to little avail. One person who has tried to save it, describes its current condition as follows:
Today, to the naked eye, the pavilion is a disaster. The lower level of the mezzanine is beginning to separate from the building. Huge cracks run through the cinder-block walls. The elevator towers are rusted. One “Sky-Streak” elevator sits smashed in the service well at the base of the tall tower while the other has been suspended in mid-air for 30 years. The vandals have even managed to scale the tower far enough to smash in its windows and protective bars.The steel crown at the top of the structure that supports the suspension cables that support the roof is rusting badly. Soon, the tension cables will begin to snap which could result in the catastrophic failure of the entire crown.
Many of the pavilions were relocated after the fair, you can find out where each structure landed, here. The intention was to turn the pavilions left behind in to something usable, given Flushing Meadows Corona Park is the 2nd largest in the city - it would make sense to make use of them. However, aside from a few events, including a Grateful Dead show in 1969, no solid plans panned out. With many saying it's too expensive to tear down, nature is taking its course - which has landed it on the endangered list.
Photo via Frank Lynch's Flickr.
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When Bloomberg was pitching the Olympics, he should have proposed to use Flushing-Meadows. New Yorkers would have been more prone to go along with it, rather than his railyard/extend the javitts center idea.
The decay at Flushing Meadows is disgraceful.
I ride my bike there several times a week. The staff does not keep up with litter. The bike paths around the lake are horrid. The BQE is in better shape. There are major flooding issues from the lake, making the bike/walking paths impassable quite often. The fountains are left dry. Hey, we're not Manhattan, right? So why should Queens residents get anything nice?
And the old Worlds' Fair landmarks -- the parks department and the city should be ashamed.
They don't bother to really maintain other Worlds Fair leftovers, like the time capsules. The 1964 capsule cover was chipped, and all they did was slap some concrete over it. So what you have is a beautiful piece of work with a big gray slab o' crap on it.
But again, it's not Manhattan. And Bloomberg couldn't care less about anything outside Manhattan -- especially if it's Queens.
Not that I'm bitter about the 11 days I went without power last summer. Nooooooo
It really is an embarassment to see the old fair grounds. Seeing those frozen elevators halfway up the observation towers from the highway just reminds you how much people just don't care about the recent past. Does anyone even realize the cool bits of history scattered through there? I was reading about it on Forgotten New York and was really surprised how much there is.
One question that never seems to be asked though is how much of a destination is Flushing Meadows? How accessible is it to people? Can people just walk in like we do Central Park?Sure millions of people drive past it on the LIE, but does anyone actually stop and go in? Would they if the city made it more of a destination?
Flushing Meadows is a VERY popular park -- for people who live in Queens. It's mobbed on the weekends. There are soccer and softball games galore all spring and summer long. It's very walkable. You've got Shea Stadium and the Tennis Center there as part of the park.
The bike baths are crowded around the lake. You can drive right into it, park near the playgrounds, and have a little pic-a-nic. There are festivals booked through the summer season.
I'm becoming a bird dork the more I freqent it. There are six or eight swans who call the Fountain of the Planets and the lake home. There are tons of chickadees, red-winged blackbirds, loons, ducks, a big white bird I think is called a egret, and tis the season for ducklings.
The problem is the money isn't flowing there -- and neither is the city's concern. Remember the series of muggings this past fall? The police presence wasn't jacked up until that poor guy was beaten beyond recognition.
I'm going to shut up now about the park.