The Hudson River Park Trust in New York City voted unanimously on Feb. 11 to approve a plan to build a $130 million pier, with lush greenery and an outdoor performance space, on the Hudson River, according to Business Insider.
The so-called “floating park” is the brainchild of billionaire mogul Barry Diller and his wife, the fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. The 2.4-acre park, officially called Pier 55, will rise out of the river, 186 feet from its shorelines, near West 14th Street. Various news reports, including one posted on the website DNAinfo.com, state that the park is scheduled to open to the public sometime in 2019.
Diller, the chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp, will contribute $113 million for construction, and will finance the park’s maintenance for 20 years. The city is kicking in $17 million, and the state will provide $18 million toward an expanded public esplanade between Bloomfield and 14th streets.
Diller’s largesse is the single biggest private donation to a public park in New York’s history, according to Capital New York, eclipsing a $100 million gift that hedge fund manager John Paulson bestowed on the Central Park Conservatory in 2012.
More than half of the performances held at the pier’s 700-seat amphitheater will be free or low-cost, according to a 20-year lease awarded to Diller’s P55 nonprofit organization. (That lease includes an option to renew for another 10 years.)
Diller told Capital New York that the nonprofit would produce works “across all forms of performance—musical, musical comedy, concert, pop concert, spoken theatrical play, ballet, etc.” P55’s board members include the film and theater producer Scott Rudin, movie director Stephen Daldry, and theater director George Wolfe,
To deflect criticism that this is just another land grab by a rich entrepreneur, the Hudson River Park Trust said it is establishing a community advisory committee comprised of local residents and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, which would consult on the park’s programming and ticket distribution.
The next step will be for the developers to apply for permits form the Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. The goal is for construction to begin next year.
Capital New York reports that Heatherwick Studios has been commissioned to design the floating park. Heatherwick is notable for having built a garden bridge over the Thames River in London. It will work with landscape architect Signe Nielsen, who designed the Tribeca section of the Hudson River Park.
The new pier would replace the existing, albeit crumbling, Pier 54, which once served as one of Hudson River Park’s main performance venues. Capitol New York and the New York Times report that the new pier would stretch 320 feet by 320 feet between Pier 54’s old pile field and the pile field that once supported Pier 56. The parallelogram-shaped pier would be built atop 300 concrete columns that range in height from 15 feet to 62 feet above the water level.
Related Stories
Performing Arts Centers | Oct 21, 2024
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center breaks ground on $336 million redevelopment of its 12-acre campus
In Newark, N.J., the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) has broken grown on the three-year, $336 million redevelopment of its 12-acre campus. The project will provide downtown Newark 350 mixed-income residential units, along with shops, restaurants, outdoor gathering spaces, and an education and community center with professional rehearsal spaces.
Performing Arts Centers | Oct 10, 2024
Studio Gang's performing arts center for Hudson Valley Shakespeare breaks ground
A new permanent home for Hudson Valley Shakespeare, a professional non-profit theater company, recently broke ground in Garrison, N.Y. The Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center includes a 14,850 sf performance venue that will serve as a permanent home for the theater company known for its sweeping open-air productions of classics and new works.
Museums | Oct 1, 2024
UT Dallas opens Morphosis-designed Crow Museum of Asian Art
In Richardson, Tex., the University of Texas at Dallas has opened a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art—the first of multiple buildings that will be part of a 12-acre cultural district. When completed, the arts and performance complex, called the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, will include two museums, a performance hall and music building, a grand plaza, and a dedicated parking structure on the Richardson campus.
Museums | Aug 29, 2024
Bjarke Ingels' Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art conceived as village of 12 pavilions
The 60,000-sm Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China recently topped out. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the museum is conceived as a village of 12 pavilions, offering a modern interpretation of the elements that have defined the city’s urbanism, architecture, and landscape for centuries.
Cultural Facilities | Aug 21, 2024
Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat
The National Aquarium in Baltimore has opened the National Aquarium Harbor Wetland, a 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the Inner Harbor’s original Chesapeake Bay tidal marsh habitat. Located between Piers 3 and 4 on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the $14 million project features more than 32,000 native shrubs and marsh grasses.
Museums | Aug 19, 2024
The Tampa Museum of Art will soon undergo a $110 million expansion
In Tampa, Fla., the Tampa Museum of Art will soon undergo a 77,904-sf Centennial Expansion project. The museum plans to reach its $110 million fundraising goal by late 2024 or early 2025 and then break ground. Designed by Weiss/Manfredi, and with construction manager The Beck Group, the expansion will redefine the museum’s surrounding site.
Smart Buildings | Jul 25, 2024
A Swiss startup devises an intelligent photovoltaic façade that tracks and moves with the sun
Zurich Soft Robotics says Solskin can reduce building energy consumption by up to 80% while producing up to 40% more electricity than comparable façade systems.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 12, 2024
Detroit’s Michigan Central Station, centerpiece of innovation hub, opens
The recently opened Michigan Central Station in Detroit is the centerpiece of a 30-acre technology and cultural hub that will include development of urban transportation solutions. The six-year adaptive reuse project of the 640,000 sf historic station, created by the same architect as New York’s Grand Central Station, is the latest sign of a reinvigorating Detroit.
Museums | Jun 20, 2024
Connecticut’s Bruce Museum more than doubles its size with a 42,000-sf, three-floor addition
In Greenwich, Conn., the Bruce Museum, a multidisciplinary institution highlighting art, science, and history, has undergone a campus revitalization and expansion that more than doubles the museum’s size. Designed by EskewDumezRipple and built by Turner Construction, the project includes a 42,000-sf, three-floor addition as well as a comprehensive renovation of the 32,500-sf museum, which was originally built as a private home in the mid-19th century and expanded in the early 1990s.
Libraries | Jun 7, 2024
7 ways to change 'business as usual': The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library
One hundred forty years ago, Theodore Roosevelt had a vision that is being realized today. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is a cutting-edge example of what’s possible when all seven ambitions are pursued to the fullest from the beginning and integrated into the design at every phase and scale.
