For years, community leaders have floated plans to redevelop the deteriorating Orchard Beach pavilion. Now, the city has announced a $50 million renovation of the colossal structure.
Last year, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. launched efforts to redevelop the pavilion, located in Pelham Bay Park, and this week Mayor Bill de Blasio gave it his stamp of approval, according to the New York Daily News.
“The opening day at Orchard Beach has been a very big deal for generations here in the Bronx,” said de Blasio. “But we also know that this beach, for too many years, did not get the support it deserved, did not get the help it deserved.”
The pavilion was built in the late 1930s under Robert Moses to house an orchestra, concessions and services for bathers. But by 2007, the crumbling pavilion was closed.
[NYDN] —Christopher Cameron