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1998
- In February, Chairman Ira M. Millstein signs, with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and Parks & Recreation Commissioner Henry J. Stern, the most important agreement in Conservancy history - an eight-year management contract that officially makes the Conservancy "Keeper of the Park."
- The Conservancy receives the single largest institutional grant in its 18-year history - a $10 million gift from the Uris Brothers Foundation. The grant provides capital funds for the improvement of visitor center facilities, the restoration of landscapes, and for public programming, including recreation, education and family and community programs.
- The Conservancy reconstructs the 2.58-mile Reservoir running track.
- The Conservancy begins an extensive $4.6 million project to rebuild the 20-acre North Meadow, a popular Park locale with 12 baseball-softball fields and five soccer-football fields.
- The Conservancy receives a national award from the American Society of Landscape Architects for design excellence in the reconstruction of the Great Lawn.
- The Conservancy receives the Philip N. Winslow Landscape Design Award for the reconstruction of the Merchants' Gate Plaza entrance.
1999
- Dedication of the nautically-themed Mariners' Playground at West 84th Street at Mariners' Gate.
- The Conservancy officially reopens the North Meadow Recreation Center. Previous classroom space is doubled. Exercise equipment, new indoor and outdoor climbing walls, and computers for analyzing individual fitness data are added.
- The Conservancy begins design work to modernize the East 72nd Street Playground.
- The Conservancy begins design work to restore the Pond at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue.
- Ira M. Millstein steps down as Chairman of the Central Park Conservancy, and A.J.C. Smith becomes the new Chairman.
2000
- The North Meadow reopens after a two-year restoration providing 12 beautiful baseball and softball fields for use in the spring, and six soccer fields for use in the fall
- Karen H. Putnam resigns after five years as the Conservancy's president having completed all the projects included in the Wonder of New York capital campaign.
- Conservatory Water reopens after a six-month restoration to make necessary repairs and replace crumbling concrete coping with beautiful "Atlantic Blue" granite.
- Construction begins on the restoration of one of Central Park's most visible and heavily used landscapes, the 59th Street Pond.
- An innovative after-school program funded by The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. is launched in the fall to help at-risk teens from the Bilingual Bicultural Middle School in East Harlem. The yearlong program uses rock climbing with academic enrichment activities to promote personal development.More than 570,000 children, teens, and adults participate in the Conservancy’s free recreation, education, visitor, volunteer, and family and community programs.
- The original 19th-century gate names are inscribed along the Park's perimeter.
- The $2.5 million restoration of the Reservoir landscapes is completed, thanks to a grant from the Uris Brothers Foundation.
- The Chairman's Circle, composed of individuals who make an annual unrestricted contribution of $25,000 or more, is founded to support the outstanding horticulture and maintenance work of the Conservancy. The Olmsted Society, named for the pioneering landscape architect who, in partnership with Calvert Vaux, designed Central Park, recognizes and thanks those friends who have expressed concern for the future of the Park by including the Conservancy in their estate plans.
- $5.86 million is raised by the Women's Committee, including more than $1 million through the Adopt-A-Bench program.
2001
- In May, the Conservancy welcomes Regina S. Peruggi as its new president. With a background in education, she plans on making that a cornerstone of her tenure.
- Seneca Village, a settlement once located in the Park and founded in the 1820s, is commemorated as the first prominent community of African-American property owners in New York City.
- An aging irrigation system under Sheep Meadow is replaced to reduce erosion and to keep the lawn healthy, made possible by a grant from The Marc Haas Foundation.
- The $1.5 million reclamation of the Pool is undertaken thanks to a generous anonymous gift.
- In memorial to the victims of the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, 40,000 daffodil bulbs are planted in Central Park
- Central Park Conservancy staff tie ribbons of remembrance to more than 450 light posts lining the Park drives as a symbol of spirit, remembrance, and honor.
- The Conservancy is jointly awarded, with three other organizations, the 2001 Award for Outstanding Commitment to the Preservation and Care of Collections by The American Institute for Conservation and Artistic Works (AIC) and Heritage Preservation.
- A Daffodil Program to support the Conservancy is launched by Women’s Committee.
- The Women’s Committee celebrates Playground Partners' 10th anniversary.
- A water trough for horses rededicated in by the Conservancy, New York City/Parks & Recreation, and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
2002
- The $4 million reconstruction of the Pond is completed, and it reopens after an eighteen-month renovation, thanks to the generosity of Julian and Josie Robertson.
- The Conservancy is awarded a $300,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for care and maintenance in the Park over the next year.
- Anti-infestation measures are enacted for monitoring of the Asian Longhorned beetle in Central Park. New Yorkers are recruited and trained by Conservancy and USDA to help in spotting the wood-boring pest.
- A new genus and species of centipede is discovered in Central Park. The centipede is about four-tenths of an inch long, making it one of the smallest in the world. The creature -- Nannarrup hoffmani , named for the man who discovered it -- lives in the park's leaf litter, the crumbling organic debris that accumulates under the trees.
- Conservancy volunteers log 30,000 hours of service in Central Park.
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