1989

Restoration of Playmates' Arch - the Arch that links the Dairy and the Carousel.

Restoration of Bridge No. 24 - the last of five cast iron bridges in the Park restored.

The 7th Annual Frederick Law Olmsted Luncheon raises a record $592,000.

Restoration of the West 67th Street Adventure Playground.

This year, the Conservancy completes the restoration of the Park's 130-year old cast iron bridges, with the restoration of Bridge 24, located on the Bridle Path near East 86th Street.

The Conservancy begins to develop a comprehensive environmental plan to manage the Park's three major woodlands: the Hallett Nature Sanctuary, the Ramble, and the North Woods.

The building of the West 72nd Street rustic arbor.

New entrance piers are added at the Park's entrance at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue.

Restoration and relandscaping of the terrace of the 3,600 year-old Obelisk near the Great Lawn. The monument is now illuminated, and new benches, paving, and landscaping have transformed the spot into a small sitting garden.

Restoration of the landscapes between West 86th and West 90th Streets.

Conservancy volunteers log 11,500 work hours in the Park.

The Conservancy announces a $50 million Capital Campaign.

1990

Chaired by Ira Millstein, the Conservancy's Citizen's Task Force on the Use and Security of Central Park conducts the most exhaustive study ever undertaken of safety in an urban Park. The report includes 50 recommendations that challenge the Conservancy to pursue new programming directions and expedite restoration of the Park.

The dredging of the Harlem Meer is the first step in restoring this exceptionally beautiful but neglected landscape. The Conservancy removes 34,000 cubic yards of sediment and debris from the lake bed and replaces the valves that regulate the water level.

The restoration of Grand Army Plaza, including Pulitzer Fountain, the bronze equestrian statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman, and the Plaza itself.

The bronze statue of José Martí, the Cuban poet and patriot, at Sixth Avenue and Central Park South, is refurbished and rededicated on October 10, 1990.

Volunteers greet Park visitors at a new kiosk.

The Ballplayers House at Heckscher Ballfields at 65th Street is completed. This new building replaces an original Park structure that stood from 1873 to 1969.

Daily recreation programs begin at North Meadow Recreation Center.

The first season of Camp Central Park.

The Conservancy's Capital Campaign reaches $42.5 million.

The Carousel landscape and surrounding plaza are restored.

In its ongoing restoration of the Mall — the Park's only formal promenade — the Conservancy has added new planting beds at the southern entrance, as well as new hexpaving, and a pipe rail fence to protect the Mall's precious elm trees.

Schoolchildren made nearly 10,000 visits to at least one of the education programs at the Dairy, Belvedere Castle, and the Park's North End.

New plantings at the Billy Johnson Playground at East 67th Street and Fifth Avenue.

The Woodland Management Advisory Board is formed to develop strategies and monitor the care of the park's 130 acres of woodland.

The Pat Hoffman Friedman Playground at East 79th Street is dedicated, with the unveiling of the playground's centerpiece, a bronze statue Group of Bears by Paul Manship.

1991

The Campaign for the Central Park Conservancy comes to an end after a five-year effort. The Campaign, which was chaired by Conservancy trustee Henry R. Kravis, raised more than $50 million for Central Park.

The restoration of the Mall is completed: Literary Walk is restored; new benches that replicate the original design by Calvert Vaux encircle the planting islands near the Bandshell; an endowment fund is created for a zone gardener to maintain the Mall.

The installation of 24 trompe l'oeil panels designed and painted by Lucretia Moroni in the niches of the Bethesda Terrace arcade.

Green Gap and Driprock Arches, located on the Park Drive to the east and west of Wollman Rink, are restored. The Conservancy located, and succeeded in having reopened quarries in New Brunswick, Canada, which supplied the original sandstone for the arches.

The Greensward Trust endowment fund reaches $7 million.

The Women's Committee establishes the Adopt-A-Bench program.

Funds from the Women's Committee's Frederick Law Olmsted Luncheon create an endowment at the Dene, located along Fifth Avenue between 66th and 71st Streets.

The Central Park Tree Trust is established, to form an endowment fund for tree care, and to protect Central Park's trees — one of the finest collections of trees in any urban park in the nation.

The restoration of the landscapes on the south side of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The completion of the Bernard Family Playground at East 108th Street.

More than 12,000 students participate in the Conservancy's education programs.

A rock-climbing wall is added to the North Meadow Recreation Center.

Three half-basketball courts are added to the North Meadow Recreation Center.

James H. Evans steps down as Chairman of the Central Park Conservancy, and Ira M. Millstein is elected as Chairman.

1992

The restoration of the arches, cascades and surrounding landscapes of Glen Span Arch and Huddlestone Bridge.

Playground Partners, a Women's Committee program,  is inaugurated and raises more than $100,000 for playground maintenance.

Three new roving crews are created: one for playground maintenance, another for upkeep of historic structures, and a third for bronze conservation.

The loggia at the Dairy is repaired and repainted. The Dairy, an original Park building designed by Calvert Vaux, had been shorn of its beautiful loggia for several decades prior to its restoration in 1980. However, until a gift established the new maintenance crew, the Conservancy had no ability to provide ongoing routine maintenance for this and other historic Park structures.

Fourteen of the Park's 50 historic bronze structures are cleaned and rewaxed.

Two new zone gardeners are hired in 1992, bringing the total number of such site-specific workers to ten. These zone gardeners work at Conservatory Water and the Mall.

The Rudin Family Playground is built at West 97th Street.

The Abraham & Joseph Spector Playground at West 86th Street is refurbished with new water features and play equipment.

The Conservancy breaks ground for the new Charles A. Dana Discovery Center at 110th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues.

A record 3,700 individuals volunteer in the Park this year, donating 27,500 hours of service.

The Conservancy adds an indoor climbing wall at the North Meadow Recreation Center to supplement cold- or rainy-weather programs.

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