Central Park is getting a new recreation center. It’s designed to disappear
The new Davis Center replaces a concrete box. Its design recedes into the park’s hillside.
Next year, when the new Davis Center on the north end of Central Park opens, visitors to the area might be standing right on top of its roof and not even know it. That’s because the building is tucked into a hillside adjacent to the Harlem Meer, a tranquil manmade lake where birders try to scope out great blue herons and egrets, anglers try to catch bass, and people come simply to relax.
The recreation center—which will include a swimming pool in summer, ice skating rink in winter, and public restrooms open year-round—is replacing the Lasker Rink and Pool, a bulky 1960s concrete facility with a classic midcentury accordion roof (like the one over the outfield seats in Dodger Stadium). While the old building screamed, the new one will whisper.