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Visitors can watch a radio-powered racing regatta between members of the Model Yacht Club or cheer on children with their tiny wind-powered sloops
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Conservatory Water owes its name to the large glass house intended for the exhibition of tropical plants specified in the guidelines of the 1857 design competition for Central Park. The Greensward plan, the winning entry submitted by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, proposed a conservatory and ornamental flower beds at this location. Due to lack of funding, the conservatory was never built, and the area configured as a floral parterre was turned into an ornamental pond. The model boat ponds of Paris were the inspiration for the design; model boat racing soon became a popular activity, so much so that Conservatory Water is more familiarly known as the Model Boat Pond. Author E.B. White made it the setting for a memorable race in his much-loved children's book Stuart Little. Visitors can watch a radio-powered racing regatta between members of the Model Yacht Club; they can also rent a miniature boat from a nearby concessionaire.
The Kerbs Memorial Boathouse, built in 1954, houses a café and a storage facility for model boats. In front of the boathouse is a handsome flagstone patio with benches and tables and colorful flower beds.
The landscape surrounding Conservatory Water is notable in its own right. Hundreds of visitors enjoy sledding down Pilgrim Hill (named for the bronze sculpture on its crest) as well as ice-skating on the Pond — weather permitting. Horticulturists will spot a Columnar European Hornbeam and three Crepe Myrtle trees here, as well as seven species of oak. At the southern end of Conservatory Water are springtime billows of Yoshino Cherries. Birders flock to the area to watch for the famous red-tailed hawks — Pale Male and Lola — who have set up housekeeping on a Fifth Avenue apartment ledge.
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Hans Christian Andersen Sculpture
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Adding to the appeal of this site is the Alice in Wonderland sculpture to the north of Conservatory Water, where children enjoy climbing. At the Hans Christian Andersen sculpture to the west there is storytelling during the summer months.
Southeast of Conservatory Water is a curved white granite bench dedicated to Waldo Hutchins, a member of the original Board of Commissioners for Central Park. It bears a Latin inscription: Alteri vivas opportet si vis tibi vivere (One must live for another if he wishes to live for himself). A small sundial at the back of the bench bears another Latin inscription: Ne diruatur fuga temporum (Let it not be destroyed by the passage of time). To read the Parks Department's historical sign, click here.
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