North Meadow Center Reconstruction

The Central Park Conservancy recently completed a core and shell restoration of the North Meadow Center and the adjacent landscape, located on the north side of the 97th Street Transverse Road, at the southern edge of the North Meadow.

Originally added to the Park in 1910 as a maintenance yard, the complex included a stone storage shed and stable, a refuse incinerator, and manure pits. In 1935, the facility was renovated under NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses to incorporate public restrooms and outdoor recreation facilities, in addition to storage for Park Operations. In the early 1980s, a radio command post, night security operation, and a headquarters for the newly created Urban Park Rangers and Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) were added to the building.

In this most recent reconstruction project, the Conservancy’s scope of work for the building included the following:

• A new slate roof
• New windows and doors
• Repointing and cleaning of the exterior masonry
• New lighting
• A reconfigured interior space, which relocated the public restrooms to make them more accessible to users of the courts and adjacent ballfields
• Much-needed upgraded interior office space and lockers for Conservancy staff.

For the exterior sitework, the project scope included the following:

• Reconditioning the existing handball courts
• Adding two new dedicated pickleball courts
• Repaving and restriping the basketball courts
• Replacing and relocating the chess and checkers tables
• Adding new bike racks, benches, and drinking fountains
• Creating additional cart charging stations to accommodate the Conservancy’s electric vehicle fleet
• Adding new plantings around the building to screen operational activity from view and visually ground the North Meadow Center within the landscape