The Parks Department is opening up the arcade at Bethesda Fountain Terrace tomorrow. The Terrace Arcade had a Minton tile ceiling and the the tiles were removed for cleaning in 1984. Now, after a $7 million effort funded by the Central Park Conservancy, the 16,000 tiles are ready to be seen by New Yorkers again.
The ribbon-cutting is tomorrow at 10:30AM at the Bethesda Terrace Arcade (in the middle of Central Park at 72nd Street). After the opening remarks, there will be guided tours and restoration demonstrations between 11AM-2PM. There are no future plans to have tours or demonstrations on a weekend, but we can hope!
There is another beautiful photograph of the restored arcade after the jump, and it does look quite magnificent with its tiled ceilings and walls. On January 1, the NY Times had a cool interactive detailing the restoration (it's still accessible!). And did you know that many city fountains are maintained by the Central Parks Conservancy?
Photographs by Daniel Avila / NYC Parks & Recreation
