Lincoln Center will build an outdoor stage and renovate its west side (near the Beaumont and NYPL) to create a more welcoming space.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/9/23 at 1:26am

This seems like a great idea to me! That giant wall is very imposing to the west and can feel like a back alleyway. To be clear, this is Lincoln Center the parent organization, not LCT — though LCT will surely be impacted and could benefit from it.

 

The project will likely entail tearing down parts of the wall, building an outdoor stage and renovating Damrosch Park, at the corner of Amsterdam and West 62nd Street.

“As welcoming as we are to the east [where the plaza and fountain are], we should be to the west,” Henry Timms, the president and chief executive of Lincoln Center, said in an interview.

The area under exploration includes Amsterdam Avenue from West 62nd to West 65th Street, as well as Damrosch Park and the campus’s northwest corner, now home to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/06/arts/music/lincoln-center-renovation-plan-western-edge.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Updated On: 6/9/23 at 01:26 AM

[BJR]

Posted: 6/9/23 at 12:05pm

Wonderful news. And how interesting institutional design reflects the values of a given time. In this moment, community engagement is prized and so the walls of Lincoln Center are being lowered to allow the neighboring community to feel more welcome.

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 6/9/23 at 12:18pm

"The project is partly a response to Lincoln Center’s complicated history on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A vibrant neighborhood known as San Juan Hill, which was home to many low-income Black and Latino residents, was razed to make way for the center’s construction, which began in 1959."

I hope the former residents of San Juan Hill who were driven out of the neighborhood appreciate their ghosts being used to sell this new renovation. 

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 6/9/23 at 1:01pm

I heard they’re trying looking for space to build a new broadway theatre around campus, or restore an old theatre in midtown. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/9/23 at 1:52pm

Can't reverse history, but LC can at least educate the public on the problems of the past, own their history, and strive towards being better.

Damrosch Park is such a weird space right now –– and it's very generous to call it a "park" (primarily serves as a rental space for a circus tent, or a spot to set up chairs for popup concerts/screenings) –– so that's one of the more exciting elements for me.

Curious about the logistics of lowering that fortress of a wall or beautifying it, especially the part that has building attached to it (adding windows? painting a mural? something else?)

Updated On: 6/9/23 at 01:52 PM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 6/9/23 at 2:02pm

Broadway Flash said: "I heard they’re trying looking for space to build a new broadway theatre around campus, or restore an old theatre in midtown."

This allegation has been mentioned around the board for a few months now, but I have yet to hear anything more substantial.

This is true pie-in-the-sky stuff, but:

There are so many shuttered businesses in Lincoln Square right now (Bed Bath & Beyond has a ton of square footage underground, the old Lincoln Plaza Cinemas had 6 screens, Best Buy) I wonder if there could be ANY feasibility in a longterm lease that turned one of those spaces into a 500-700-seat theatre for LCT? Loading docks could be as much of a nightmare as the former houses on 42nd Street, but...desperate times, Mrs. Lovett.

Updated On: 6/9/23 at 02:02 PM