Monday, August 19, 2013

Lakeside Center Due to Open in December

Great Prospects for Beautiful Prospect Park
The latest upgrade to Prospect Park, the Lakeside Center, is a 26-acre recreational area which will cost, when it is done, about $74 million.

Ground broke on the project in 2010 and has been proceeding apace. Visitors will be able to awe and ahh at the remarkable historic reconstruction, ecological restoration, and modern design that are the key elements of the undertaking. Here are some of the highlights Brooklynites can look forward to.

More green space: the new ice skating rink will be designed to blend into the green landscape surrounding it, unlike the old Wollman Rink which this one is replacing. There will be “buried building” with locker rooms, bathrooms, and a cafĂ© with a roof made of green, blending in with the landscape.

Not one but two multiuse skating rinks: Both rinks together will have 30,000 square feet of skating surface between them, and they will be in use all year-round. In the winter they will alternate between being connected together to make a huge unified skating space and being split between a skating and hockey rink. In the summer they outdoor rink will transform itself into a water playground. The other rink will become a roller skating rink.

The complex will also feature a concert grove, music island, and rediscovered objects from the 19th century will be on display.