Astoria Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Dive In And Help To Restore The Astoria Pool Olympic High Dive!

May is Historic Preservation Month, and New Yorkers have a chance to preserve the Astoria Pool Olympic High Dive, the site of the 1936 and 1964 Olympic trials, by voting for it in the Partners in Preservation grant contest. You can vote once per day, through May 21st, by visiting the Partners in Preservation website or Facebook page.
While Astoria Park’s main pool still attracts more than 100,000 visitors each summer, the diving pool and platform have been closed for decades and are deteriorating rapidly. There are many areas where concrete is chipping, and the bronze railings and other hardware have corroded. Parks recently received $1 million in funding from Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. to create a performance stage over the existing diving pool and a tent canopy covering the site’s bleachers. These improvements leave the diving platform, the centerpiece of this future performance center, untouched. This grant funding would allow us to restore the diving platform to its original splendor.
The Olympic High Dive is part of Astoria Pool, one of ten New York City public pools that opened in the summer of 1936, built with labor and funding from the Works Progress Administration. Located in the sixty-acre Astoria Park in Queens, its setting commands spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline and the Hell’s Gate and Triboro Bridges.
With its streamlined and simple forms, decorative glass block, deco-style steel railings, and Art Moderne-style ticket booth, the pool is one of the most architecturally remarkable public recreational facilities in the country. The significance of this site was recognized by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which designated it a landmark in 2006.

NYC Parks is holding a Music & Arts Festival at Astoria Pool – a preview of the types of activities that could be held at the performance center – on Saturday, May 5 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. with live bands and theatre, including special musical guest Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. The festival will also include children’s activities, such as face painting, storytelling, inflatable rides, and arts & crafts.
For more information about the Astoria Pool Olympic High Dive and Performance Center go to nyc.gov/parks and search for keyword: “Astoria Performance Center.”

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY
“I'm living so far beyond my income that we may almost be said to be living apart.”

e e cummings
(1894 - 1962)