Here's A Look Inside Central Park's New $160M Futuristic Park House

CENTRAL PARK, NY — After more than four years of construction and $160 million to revamp the eyesore that was Lasker Rink and Pool at the northernmost end of Central Park, construction is officially nearing the finish line.

The new Davis Center, which will replace Lasker Rink and Pool, will be open year-round in the Harlem Meer starting on April 26.

The new center will act as a community hub with programming, amenities, and concessions for the new ice rink, swimming pool or grassy lawn, depending on the season.

Unlike the old rink space, which was only open during the winter and summer, during fall and spring the new oval at the Davis Center will be fitted with turf so that the space can continuously be used as a relaxing lawn.

Inside the center

The new Davis Center is built discreetly into the side of a hill in the Harlem Meer, with a landscaped roof you can walk across, like a futuristic Earth ship.

This is a stark, intentional difference from the old center, which was a grey cement block that jutted out awkwardly from the land and surrounded the Lasker Rink and Pool with a big wall, Christopher Nolan, the project executive and Central Park's former chief landscape architect, said.

The new center was built to frame Central Park, not obscure it, and connect it to the rest of the space, Nolan said.

In fact, as part of the renovation, workers had to change the size, shape, and location of the pool and rink space, in order to unblock a natural creek that the old rink covered up.

"[The Davis Center] is a frame for experiencing the landscape," Nolan said. "The building kind of unfolds."

Despite being built around 30 feet directly into the ground, the new space feels light, due to a glass wall with shifting glass panes that can open to allow fresh air into the building during the warmer months, and a skylight that slices through the planted roof.

This gives it an indoor-outdoor living room feel, which was intentional.

"Our concept was to essentially create an outdoor room," Nolan said.

Free and low-cost programming for the space

The new programming model for the space is "public programming over profit" Leah Day VanHorn, the Central Park Conservancy's chief of staff and vice president of strategy and programming, told Patch.

The Davis Center will work with local arts and sports nonprofits based near the north end of the park, like the Harlem School of the Arts, MultiTasking Yogi, Go Hard Dance!, Figure Skating In Harlem and the Central Park North Stars, and many more, to provide free and low-cost programming year-round in the space.

"Central Park is a place for all," Day VanHorn said.

"Our hope is that the center can be a platform for helping them further their work as well," Day VanHorn said.

To keep it low-cost and free for New Yorkers, the programs are largely funded by Central Park Conservancy's fundraising efforts, Day VanHorn said.

Day VanHorn and Nolan said the new recreational space is meant to be a long-term investment in the communities that border the northernmost end of the park, especially Harlem.

The pool, which will be free to use, will open in early June.

Learn more about the space here.

Correction, March 14, 3:51 p.m.: Christopher Nolan's title has been updated.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.