{{Short description|Building in Central Park, Manhattan, New York}} {{use American English|date=October 2019}} {{use mdy dates|date=October 2019}} {{about||the structure at Prospect Park|Prospect Park (Brooklyn)#Former structures|other uses|Dairy (disambiguation)}} thumb|right|The Dairy, Central Park, in 2013
'''The Dairy''' is a small building in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, designed by the architect Calvert Vaux. The building was completed in 1871 as a restaurant but is now one of the park's five visitor centers managed by the Central Park Conservancy, and also contains a gift shop.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=|date=March 29, 2021|title=Dairy Visitor Center & Gift Shop|url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/dairy-visitor-center|access-date=March 29, 2021|website=Central Park Conservancy|language=en}}</ref> The Dairy is located in the southern section of Central Park just south of the 65th Street transverse road. Adjacent features include the Central Park Carousel and the Heckscher Playground and Ballfields to the west, Sheep Meadow to the northwest, Central Park Mall to the north, Central Park Zoo to the east, The Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary to the southeast, and Wollman Rink to the south.<ref name="central-park-map">{{Cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/maps/CPC_Map_2014_V2.pdf|title=Central Park Map|date=2014|website=centralparknyc.org|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 1, 2019|archive-date=October 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005170140/http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/maps/CPC_Map_2014_V2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==History== ===Design and construction=== The Dairy was included in the Greensward Plan, the winner of the 1857 competition for the design of Central Park,<ref name="Kinkead">{{cite book|title=Central Park, 1857-1995: The Birth, Decline, and Renewal of a National Treasure|last=Kinkead|first=Eugene|publisher=Norton|year=1990|isbn=0-393-02531-4|location=New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/centralpark1857100kink}}</ref>{{rp|38–39}} but construction of the building only began in September 1869.<ref name="Kinkead" />{{Rp|74}}<ref name="Olmsted 1922"/>{{rp|535}} In a progress report written by Olmsted Vaux & Co. to the Department of Public Parks, dated June 6, 1870, the architects stated, "The Dairy [is] a stone structure, the cellar of which connects directly with one of the traffic roads, it being the intention that the building should receive its main supplies from the exterior of the park. The Dairy is intended to serve as a refreshment room for adult visitors, and for the furnishing of supplies to parties of children who will congregate in the rustic shelter and in the play-grounds. The completion of this building, as designed in accordance with an estimate prepared in conjunction with the Architect-in-chief, will cost $3,000."<ref name="Olmsted 1922">{{cite book | editor-last=Olmsted | editor-first=Frederick Law | title=Frederick Law Olmsted, Landscape Architect, 1822-1903 | publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons | issue=v. 1 | year=1922 | url=https://archive.org/details/fredericklawolms01olmsrich | access-date=September 10, 2019 }}</ref>{{rp|477–478}}
The Dairy was incorporated into the Children's District, which was not part of the initial plans for Central Park.<ref name="Olmsted 1922" />{{rp|477–478}}<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12742|title=Central Park Highlights - The Dairy : NYC Parks|website=www.nycgovparks.org|access-date=2019-09-10}}</ref> The district also included Playmates Arch, Heckscher Playground and Ballfields, the Chess & Checkers House, the now-demolished Children's Cottage, and the Central Park Carousel.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/blog/childrens-district.html|title=The Children's District: Then and Now|last=Central Park Conservancy|website=www.centralparknyc.org|language=en|access-date=2019-09-10}}</ref> As originally planned, the Dairy would be used as a place to buy milk and other small snacks, as well as borrow board games.<ref name="Kinkead" />{{Rp|46}}<ref name=":2" /> The cows that provided the milk would be housed in the cottage's basement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1870/02/18/archives/central-park-dairy.html|title=Central Park Dairy|date=February 18, 1970|website=The New York Times|access-date=September 11, 2019}}</ref> However, after an incident regarding the sale of tainted milk, more stringent regulations were instituted in the 1860s. The game loans ultimately became the purview of the Children's Cottage.<ref name=":1" />
On the southern facade, a loggia or covered porch allowed visitors to enjoy the nearby Pond; the portion of the pond facing the Dairy is now occupied by Wollman Rink.<ref name="Kinkead" />{{Rp|38}}<ref name=":2" /> The building also contains several Gothic Revival elements including a great hall with large church-like windows, a spire, and a roof with a steep pitch.<ref name=":1" />
===Decline=== The Dairy was completed in 1871, and following political pressure from legislator William Tweed, was used as a restaurant.<ref name=":1"/> In 1921, the restaurant operator Eugene Glenn paid an annual fee of $12,250 for the franchise. In the 1930s, Park Commissioner Robert Moses converted it to a storage facility, and by 1950, the building was in decline. That year, a reporter for ''The New York Times'' wrote that, "untrimmed tree branches jut into its shingled roof," and "leader pipes have long since separated from the gutters and sag uselessly."<ref>{{cite web |first=Richard J.H. |last=Johnston | title=Stroll Confirms Neglect Of Park; Evidences Of Disrepair That Can Be Found In Central Park | website=The New York Times | date=May 17, 1950 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/05/17/archives/stroll-confirms-neglect-of-park-evidences-of-disrepair-that-can-be.html | access-date=September 10, 2019}}</ref> The loggia of the Dairy was demolished in 1955. The building was later closed altogether due to the New York City fiscal crisis of the 1970s.<ref name="Goldberger 1979"/> In the interim, it was used as a maintenance shed.<ref name=":1" />
===Restoration and loggia reconstruction=== Restoration of the Dairy was identified in 1978 by Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis as a demonstration project that could prove the capacity of the Parks Department to restore and manage the city's decrepit parks system. The idea was to build public support -- especially among the affluent neighbors of Central Park -- that would translate into both private funding and political support for increased municipal appropriations.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Soffer|first=Jonathan M.|title=Ed Koch and the rebuilding of New York City|date=2010|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-52090-4|location=New York|pages=264|oclc=750192934}}</ref>
In 1979, the architects Weisberg, Castro Associates, following designs prepared in 1978 by the architect James R. Lamantia (1923–2011), restored the northern half of the structure, a renovation undertaken by the Central Park Community Fund and financed in part by Revlon, Inc. The renovated building reopened on November 17, 1979,<ref name="Goldberger 1979">{{cite web |first=Paul |last=Goldberger | title=1870 Dairy In the Park Reopening; Victim of Fiscal Crisis | website=The New York Times | date=November 16, 1979 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/16/archives/1870-dairy-in-the-park-reopening-victim-of-fiscal-crisis.html | access-date=September 10, 2019}}</ref> with a polychrome information and sales desk designed by the architect Richard B. Oliver (1943-1985).
In 1981, the Central Park Conservancy rebuilt the loggia that had been demolished in 1955.<ref>{{cite web |first=Deirdre |last=Carmody | title=Victorian Dairy Opens Once More In The Park | website=The New York Times | date=October 15, 1981 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/15/nyregion/victorian-dairy-opens-once-more-in-the-park.html | access-date=September 10, 2019}}</ref> The loggia reconstruction was designed by James R. Lamantia and the firm of Russo + Sonder.<ref>''Drawings for restoration of Dairy Barn, Phase II, Central Park.'' James R. Lamantia and Russo & Sonders architects. 1980. 15 sheets.</ref>
===Restoration (2020–2021)=== In 2016, the Conservancy began raising funds for the restoration of several structures in Central Park, including the Dairy.<ref>{{cite web | title=Central Park, Bucolic but Aging, Is in a Quest for $300 Million | website=The New York Times | last=Pogrebin | first=Robin | date=July 14, 2016 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/arts/design/central-park-conservancy-to-raise-300-million-dollars.html | access-date=September 10, 2019}}</ref> In September 2020, the Conservancy closed the building for restoration,<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 29, 2021|title=The Dairy Visitor Center & Gift Shop|url=https://restoration.centralparknyc.org/projects/dairy-visitor-center-gift-shop|access-date=March 29, 2021|website=Central Park Conservancy Restoration Projects}}</ref> and reopened it in November 2021.
==Gallery== <gallery widths="200px" heights="200px"> File:Annual report of the Board of Commissioners of the Central Park (1858) (18245999008).jpg|The Architect's sketch published in 1869. File:Restaurant, Central Park, New York City, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|A stereoscope view of the Dairy (after 1870). File:Dairy, Central Park, N.Y, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|A stereoscope view of the Dairy (after 1870). File:Central Park, N.Y. Dairy, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|A stereoscope view of the Dairy (after 1870). File:CP Dairy rain jeh.JPG|South facade of the Dairy in 2009. File:Dairy in Central Park, NYC - IMG 5647.JPG|The Dairy in 2010. </gallery>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}}
* {{official|http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/dairy-visitor-center-gift-shop.html}} * [https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12742 NYC Parks website] {{coord|40|46|09|N|73|58|25|W|display=title}} {{Central Park}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dairy, The}} Category:Central Park Category:Buildings and structures in Manhattan Category:Gothic Revival architecture in New York City