Concert Grove#Pavilion

{{Prospect Park (Brooklyn)}}

The Concert Grove is located on the northeast edge of the Prospect Park Lake,{{Cite map|url=https://www.prospectpark.org/media/filer_public/fc/df/fcdf91e9-eb0b-4663-a163-541f79c51c88/prospect_park_map.pdf|title=Prospect Park Alliance Map|publisher=Prospect Park Alliance|date=2018|access-date=October 22, 2019}} featuring a terrace garden above an esplanade. Originally completed in 1874{{Cite web|last=Vries|first=Susan De|date=2020-09-10|title=Restoring the Colorful Delight of the Concert Grove Pavilion in Prospect Park|url=https://www.brownstoner.com/interiors-renovation/prospect-park-brooklyn-concert-grove-pavilion-calvert-vaux-restoration-calvert-vaux/|access-date=2021-05-19|website=Brownstoner|language=en-US}} in a design by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, with the assistance of Jacob Wrey Mould{{Cite book|last=Dolkart|first=Andrew|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwYcSFtdE_AC&pg=PA261|title=Guide to New York City Landmarks|last2=Commission|first2=New York Landmarks Preservation|date=2008-12-03|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-28963-1|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cIOZO8_HNGAC&pg=PA310|title=An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn|publisher=Gibbs Smith|isbn=978-1-4236-1911-6|language=en}} and Thomas Wisedell, it was laid out so park patrons could hear music being played from a bandstand on the later-demolished Music Island. The audience was expected to enjoy the outdoor setting and walk around during intermissions, in the style of a promenade concert. The Concert Grove served as the "artistic center" for Prospect Park, and in the 19th century, hosted German choral groups.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/14/nyregion/monuments-and-memories-for-a-moving-experience.html|title=Monuments and Memories, for a Moving Experience|last=Gonzalez|first=David|date=June 14, 2005|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 22, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} However, as the area was considered to have had bad acoustics, concerts were moved to the nearby Music Pagoda in the Nethermead section of Prospect Park when that structure opened in 1887. After this, the Concert Grove became known for a period as the Flower Garden.

The southern part of the Concert Grove was later modified to make way for an ice skating rink called Wollman Rink, which was approved in 1960{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1960/10/07/archives/prospect-park-rink-approved-wollman-fund-gives-300000.html|title=Prospect Park Rink Approved; Wollman Fund Gives $300,000|date=October 7, 1960|work=The New York Times|access-date=February 7, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} and opened the following year on the site of the Music Island.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/12/23/archives/new-wollman-rink-is-dedicated-in-brooklyn.html|title=New Wollman Rink Is Dedicated in Brooklyn|date=December 23, 1961|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=February 16, 2019}} The grove was renovated in the 2010s, which also saw the opening of the Shelby White and Leon Levy Esplanade and the island restored as Chaim Baier Music Island,{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/nyregion/monitoring-progress-of-wollman-rink-in-prospect-park.html|title=Monitoring Progress of Wollman Rink in Prospect Park|last=Pollak|first=Michael|date=August 7, 2011|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=February 16, 2019}} with the demolition of the rink and the construction of the LeFrak Center, a year-round sports facility.

The grove's style complements that of the Central Park Mall; however, unlike the elongated, rectangular Mall, the Concert Grove was laid out radially, in order to blend more smoothly with the landscape. The design can also be compared to aspects of Bethesda Terrace, another Vaux and Mould collaboration. It consists of two pathways fanning outward, away from the lake, as well as a pedestrian walkway running through the middle of the grove. Two curved terraces, paralleling the shoreline and running perpendicularly to the spokes of the "fan", divide the grove into plateaus.{{cite book|url=https://www.echonyc.com/~parks/books/handbook.html|title=Prospect Park Handbook|last=Lancaster|first=Clay|publisher=Long Island University Press|year=1972|isbn=978-0-913252-06-2|edition=2nd|location=New York}} A path runs southward from the Concert Grove to the LeFrak Center.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/arts/design/lakeside-a-skating-complex-in-prospect-park.html|title=Restoring Brooklyn's Pastoral Heart|last=Kimmelman|first=Michael|date=October 20, 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 22, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

File:Prospect Park Oriental Pavilion Golden Hour.jpg

The Concert Grove Pavilion, also known as the Oriental Pavilion, is located in the middle of the Concert Grove, measuring {{Convert|40|by|80|ft|m|abbr=}} with a roof and columns in a Middle Eastern or Indian style.{{cite web|url=https://ny.curbed.com/maps/prospect-park-brooklyn-things-to-do|title=15 hidden gems of Prospect Park|last=Scherer|first=Jenna|date=August 10, 2017|website=Curbed NY|access-date=October 22, 2019}} The pavilion is supported by eight columns made of cast iron. The orientalist style could be considered a kind of Indo-Gothic, and may have been influenced by then-current British ideas of Vaux's early apprenticeship under Lewis Nockalls Cottingham{{Cite book|last=DeMause|first=Neil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xDkdA2Yi7swC&pg=PA72|title=The Complete Illustrated Guidebook to Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden|date=2001|publisher=Sterling Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-7607-2213-8|language=en}} or by his collaborator Jacob Wrey Mould.{{Cite journal|last=Gutterman|first=Scott|date=July 1989|title=Return to splendor|url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/ext/resources/archives/backissues/1989-07.pdf|journal=Architectural Record|pages=110–113}}

Formerly a table service restaurant, it was converted to a snack bar in the 1950s after the closure of the Concert Grove House. The pavilion was largely destroyed in a 1974 fire, only the pillars surviving, and was reconstructed in 1987, though restoration work was temporarily halted after a contractor died on site.{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/37648957/|title=Changing Scene|date=January 25, 1987|work=New York Daily News|access-date=October 21, 2019|page=236|via=newspapers.com {{open access}}}} Everything was based on historic photographs and analysis of the destroyed structure, as original plans were lost. It proved difficult to identify the original colors from the old black-and-white images, and the palette was inspired by Vaux's Samuel J. Tilden House. The pavilion deteriorated after that, though plans to restore the pavilion were revealed in 2015.{{cite web|title=Prospect Park Concert Grove|url=https://www.nycgo.com/arts-culture/prospect-park-concert-grove|access-date=October 22, 2019|website=NYCgo.com}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/05/nyregion/group-plans-to-renovate-long-neglected-areas-of-prospect-park.html|title=Group Plans to Renovate Long-Neglected Areas of Prospect Park|date=August 5, 2015|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 22, 2019}} It has been very occasionally used for events in recent years, such as Shakespeare performances,{{cite web | title=WEEKENDER GUIDE | website=The New York Times | date=June 17, 1988 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/17/arts/weekender-guide.html | access-date=October 22, 2019}} as well as for weddings.See, for instance:

• {{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/20/style/wedding-celebrations-erin-tobin-roger-bearden.html|title=WEDDING/CELEBRATIONS; Erin Tobin, Roger Bearden|date=April 20, 2003|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 22, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
• {{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/fashion/weddings/21STEINKE.html|title=Darcey Steinke, Michael Hudson|date=June 20, 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 22, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} It was again restored in 2021, and a design flaw from 1987 that led to water damage was corrected.{{Cite web|last=Vries|first=Susan De|date=2021-04-08|title=A Colorful Shelter Returns With the Restoration of Prospect Park's Concert Grove Pavilion|url=https://www.brownstoner.com/interiors-renovation/prospect-park-alliance-brooklyn-concert-grove-pavilion-restoration-opens-reservations-calvert-vaux/|access-date=2021-05-19|website=Brownstoner|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|last=Verde|first=Ben|title=Restored Concert Grove Pavilion in Prospect Park reopens after six-year closure • Brooklyn Paper|url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/concert-grove-pavilion-reopens-prospect-park-april-2021/|access-date=2021-05-19|website=www.brooklynpaper.com|language=en-US}}

File:Prospect Park Brooklyn Feb 2019 33.jpg

The first of six busts of creative figures in this park section was erected before the completion of the site, and just outside it. The bust of American writer Washington Irving (1871) across East Drive from the Concert Grove,{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B073/monuments/782|title=Prospect Park Monuments – Washington Irving Memorial|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=October 21, 2019}} was donated by Demas Barnes.{{Cite news|date=1871-07-02|title=TRIBUTE TO IRVING.; The Latest Ornament to Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Unvailing of Washington Irving's Bust--Ceremonies at the Park--Presentation Address by Mr. Demas Barnes--Address by Rev. H.W. Beecher. ADDRESS OF REV. H.W. BEECHER.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1871/07/02/archives/tribute-to-irving-the-latest-ornament-to-prospect-park-brooklyn.html|access-date=2021-05-19|issn=0362-4331}} The first inside the grove itself was the bust of Irish poet and lyricist Thomas Moore (1879),{{cite web | title=Thomas Moore Memorial |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation | url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/prospect-park/monuments/1057 | access-date=October 22, 2019}} donated by the St. Patrick Society of Brooklyn.

Moore's bust helped establish a definite musical theme to the sculpture garden, and later busts are of classical composers, sponsored by other European American cultural groups.{{cite web|url=http://www.prospectpark.org/visit/history/historic_places/h_concert_grove|title=Concert Grove History|year=2008|publisher=Prospect Park Alliance|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090323073036/http://www.prospectpark.org/visit/history/historic_places/h_concert_grove|archive-date=March 23, 2009|access-date=March 21, 2009}} The later busts include three donated by the United German Singers of Brooklyn representing their wins in national Sängerfests: Ludwig van Beethoven (1894, one of a series by Bearer),{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B073/monuments/1635|title=Prospect Park Monuments – Ludwig Van Beethoven|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|website=www.nycgovparks.org|access-date=2019-10-22}} Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1897),{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B073/monuments/1071|title=Prospect Park Monuments – Mozart Memorial|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=2019-10-22}} and Carl Maria von Weber (1909).{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B073/monuments/1639|title=Prospect Park Monuments – Von Weber Memorial|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=2019-10-22}} And the last one to be added was donated by the Norwegian Societies of Brooklyn, Edvard Grieg (1914).{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B073/monuments/644|title=Prospect Park Monuments – Edvard Grieg Memorial|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=2019-10-22}}

A statue of Abraham Lincoln, the first Lincoln monument in the United States, is also located at the Concert Grove. Sculpted by Henry Kirke Brown in 1869, it was initially located at Grand Army Plaza. The Lincoln statue was relocated to the Concert Grove in 1896, and restored in the late 1980s.{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B073/monuments/911|title=Abraham Lincoln|date=June 26, 1939|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=October 22, 2019}} Another restoration of the Lincoln statue took place in 1998.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/02/nyregion/neighborhood-report-prospect-park-new-effort-keeps-lincoln-friends-looking-their.html|title=NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: PROSPECT PARK; New Effort Keeps Lincoln and Friends Looking Their Best|last=Lewine|first=Edward|date=August 2, 1998|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 22, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} From 1959 until the early 2010s the statue faced the rear fence of the Kate Wollman Skating Rink. Following the Concert Grove restoration and closure of the rink it now faces the edge of the Prospect Park Lake. It was proposed to move the statue back to its original position as part of the restoration,{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203833104577070110343065918|title=In Brooklyn, G Marks the Spot for a Bust of Abe Lincoln|last=Newman|first=Barry|date=December 10, 2011|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=October 22, 2019}} replacing the bust of Alexander Skene at Grand Army Plaza, but {{As of|2021||df=US|lc=y}}, it was still located in the Concert Grove.{{cite web|url=https://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/39/48/dtg-prospect-park-lincoln-statue-vandalized-2016-11-25-bk.html|title=Emancipation desecration! Prospect Park's historic Lincoln statue vandalized|date=November 25, 2016|website=Brooklyn Paper|access-date=August 21, 2019}}

A long low wall of Mary's Point Red sandstone partially surrounds the Concert Grove, with ornate sculptural decoration by Jacob Wrey Mould. A part of the original construction in 1874, it was intended to mark a place for the hitching of carriages. It later become prominent in the local running community as a starting line for circuits around the park, and a 1995 restoration named it "Harry's Wall" after a founder of the Prospect Park Track Club, funded by the Prospect Park Alliance, New York Road Runners, and friends of Harry Murphy.{{Cite web|title=Prospect Park Highlights - Harry’s Wall : NYC Parks|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/B073/highlights/11890|access-date=2021-05-19|website=www.nycgovparks.org}}

A frame chalet called the Concert Grove House was located north of the grove. It was completed in 1873{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/37649563/|title=The Park|date=November 22, 1872|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=October 17, 2019|page=4|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com {{open access}}}} and contained a similar design to The Dairy, a now-demolished stone cottage, though the Concert Grove House was a frame building. The Concert Grove House served as a restaurant before being demolished in 1949. Restrooms were also provided within the building.

{{Reflist}}

{{coord|40.6592|-73.9643|format=dms|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=title}}

Category:Prospect Park (Brooklyn)

Category:Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in New York (state)

Category:Monuments to composers

Category:Former music venues in New York City

Category:Pavilions in the United States

Category:Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1847

Category:German-American culture in New York City