The New York Times reports that the Central Park Conservancy has started a new fund raising campaign, titled, “Forever Green: Ensuring the Future of Central Park,” It has already raised $112 million toward its $300 million goal, which includes a $25 million gift from the Thompson Family Foundation that will fund the restoration of Belvedere Castle and the park’s Children’s District, including the Dairy, Kinderberg, and Chess and Checkers House.
Some people argue that the park has been a victim of its own success. As it has been improved over the years, the number of annual visitors has mushroomed to 42 million, from 12 million in 1981. “It’s being trampled to death — visitation now is heavier than ever in its history,” said Adrian Benepe, the former New York City parks commissioner who is now the director of city park development at the nonprofit Trust for Public Land. “This is America’s great work of art of the 19th century because it set a standard for what a great urban park should be that has been copied all around the world.”
The conservancy has served as the steward of Central Park since 1980 and today has an annual budget of $65 million for operating and capital expenses, 25 percent of which comes from the city through a 10-year management agreement that was renewed in 2013. (The conservancy must raise the remaining 75 percent privately.) The new campaign also aims to return arches, bridges and waterways to the original vision of Olmsted and Vaux, much of it inspired by woodlands in the Adirondacks and the Catskills, as depicted in art from the period.
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