A rendering if the Lakeside project in Prospect Park
A now five-year-old Prospect Park construction project named Lakeside, which would bring new skating rinks, a cafe and education center to the southeastern end of the park, faces delays and is only half-imagined, let alone built, the New York Times reported.
The project spans 26 acres and costs $74 million. According to the Times, this is the first major construction project in the park in the past 50 years. Prospect Park officials had first aimed to open the skating rinks alone in January 2013, but now they will not open until that fall when the rest of the construction, including the cafe and education center, will be complete.
The main issue is financing additions to the plan, which include the installation of a 20,000-square-foot bluestone walkway. Since the 2007 release of the first design, according to the Times, the project’s financing has increased by $25 million. It has relied on allocations from both the state and the city, not from the Prospect Park Alliance and city-run park itself, which has a $12.3 million budget. A $10 million donation from philanthropist Shelby White has also kept the project afloat. [NYT]