COURIER LIFE, NOV. 20-26, 2020 25
OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
BY BEN VERDE
Prospect Park’s Endale Arch reopened
to the public last week after a
fi ve-year renovation that revealed the
monument’s original architectural details
and restored the original piece of
Brooklyn’s Backyard.
The victorian arch, which funnels
park-goers from the footpaths near
Grand Army Plaza to the sprawling
Meadow, was designed by the lawn’s
original visionaries Calvert Vaux and
Frederick Law Olmsted over 150 years
ago, and has remained a staple of the
greenspace ever since, said Prospect
Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue.
“This arch and its companion next
door, Meadowport Arch, were envisioned
by Olmsted and Vaux as being
transporting entrances to the majestic
long meadow,” Donoghue said on Nov.
13. “They envisioned it as leaving the
dirt and diffi culties of the city behind
and entering this gorgeous space.”
The $500,000 restoration — which
was paid for through Councilman
Brad Lander’s participatory budget,
along with the Tiger Baron Foundation
— revealed original details in
the woodwork that had been hidden
under layers of paint for decades, and
renewed a pattern of limestone, sandstone,
and brownstone in the arch laid
by 19th-century stonemasons.
The restored arch pays tribute to its
original design, with the intentions of
Calvert and Vaux in mind, according
to the contractor who led the restoration.
“When you’re working behind
Calvert Vaux and Olmstead, it’s very
humbling, and you feel a lot of pressure
to get the details right,” said Curtis
Barnhart. “These aren’t the stars
of the park, they’re just little gems, but
you feel responsibility because of the
amount of time and thought they put
into these things.”
Along with the interior of the arch,
workers also helped restore the nearby
landscaping, as well as stabilize the
surrounding hillsides to shore-up the
relic in the park’s northern corner.
The restored arch is one segment
of a larger effort that the Prospect
Park Alliance is making to improve
that section of the park, which also includes
restoring the Vale Woodlands,
refurbishing the Grand Army Plaza
berms, and adding two new entrances
to the Flatbush Avenue side of the
greenspace.
Making an entrance
Prospect Park’s Endale Arch shines anew aft er restoration
ARCH SUPPORT: The restored Endale Arch
in Prospect Park. (Top) Benches will be installed
in these bay areas. (Above) Details
such as this were hidden under layers of
paint for decades.
Paul Martinka/Prospect Park Alliance