City grants historic Highbridge pool landmark status after 70 years service.The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering New York's Landmarks Preservation Law. New York City's first landmarks legislation was enacted in 1965, prompted by the demolition of the original Pennsylvania Station, unanimously voted to grant landmark status to the Highbridge Play Center and pool in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, recognizing the recreational facility Noun 1. recreational facility - a public facility for recreation recreation facility facility, installation - a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry; "the assembly plant is an enormous facility" for its scenic location, unique construction materials and distinctive design and configuration. Built under former Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia La Guar·di·a , Fiorello Henry Known as "the Little Flower." 1882-1947. American politician who was a U.S. representative from New York (1917-1921 and 1923-1933) and mayor of New York City (1934-1945). and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses This is about the urban planner; for other uses, see Robert Moses (disambiguation). Robert Moses (December 18 1888 - July 29 1981) was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County. , and funded by the federal Works Progress Administration Works Progress Administration: see Work Projects Administration. (WPA WPA: see Work Projects Administration. WPA in full Works Progress Administration later (1939–43) Work Projects Administration U.S. work program for the unemployed. ), the pool was one of 11 that opened across the City in the summer of 1936, at the height of the Great Depression. The Highbridge Play Center stretches along Amsterdam Avenue between 172nd and 174th streets on 2.54 acres in an elevated area of Highbridge Park Highbridge Park is located in Washington Heights on the banks of the Harlem River near the northernmost tip of the New York City borough of Manhattan, between 155th Street and Dyckman Street. , and offers sweeping views of the Harlem Valley. The center was constructed over a reservoir, near a stately, 19th-century water tower that was once part of the system that supplied water to the City, and arranged in a way that recalls the former use of the site. The complex is surrounded by a vast retaining wall made of cut stone, the same material that was used to face the water tower, also a designated New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. land mark. "The ingenious location of the complex, and use of cut blocks of stone are reminders of the historic importance of the site," said Commission Chairman Robert B. Tierney. "Visitors now read the pool in the same way they read the reservoir in connection to the water tower more than a century ago. The entire facility was, and remains to this day, an architectural and engineering marvel whose future deserves to be secured." "The summer of 1936, deep in the Great Depression, broke local heat records, but the debut of Highbridge Pool and Play Center opened as a refuge to residents of Washington Heights," said Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "Not only was the massive pool able to accommodate more than 4,800 people, it was an example of stateof-the-art engineering and fine design that was sensitive to the site's water-related past. In the shadow of the historic Highbridge Water Tower and the old Highbridge receiving reservoir, this monumental ensemble of structures is a focal point focal point n. See focus. of the neighborhood that rightfully deserves its new landmark status." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Highbridge pool opened to the public on July 14, 1936, and measures 166 by 228 feet. The Art Moderne-style bath house features an entry distinguished by a curved, slightly projecting portico with two, large fluted cast-concrete piers. The pool was the fifth of 11 that opened that summer, and joins six others that have been given landmark status since June 2006: Astoria, Crotona, Jackie Robinson, McCarren, Thomas Jefferson and Sunset. The other pools and recreational facilities that remain under consideration for landmark designation are the Betsy Head and Red Hook Play Centers, in Brooklyn, and the Tompkinsville Play Center (also known as Joseph H. Lyons Pool), and interior of the Tompkinsville Play Center Bath House on Staten Island. |
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