Aymar Embury II Gallery of NYC New Deal Projects - Photo #137 - Individual buildings designed by Embury

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harlemmeerboathouse1940s
Photo: NYC Parks Department
See Harlem Meer gallery

This is the only photo I have ever found of Aymar Embury's 1943 Harlem Meer boathouse at the north end of Central Park. This is particularly galling since I passed by it a thousand times myself in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s until it was torn down in the 1990s and replaced by a new one. I remember it served as some kind of community center for a while.

References:
  1. Manhattan New Building Database 1900-1986, Office for Metropolitan History: "1941, Department of Buildings Number 125: CENTRAL PARK AT 110TH ST; (owner) City N.Y., Dept. Parks; (architect) Aymar Embury II: 1-sty bk boat house, 120×46." This indicates the design and early construction, which was paused, then resumed in 1943 (next item).
  2. NYC Parks Department Press Release, 13 March 1943: "It is essential to complete these unfinished W.P.A. projects as quickly as possible to protect the work already done and the public using the parks in and adjacent to these uncompleted areas. To leave them in their present condition until after the war would be a serious waste of funds already expended. Although the contract allows about eight months for completion, it is expected that most of the playgrounds will be opened for usage about midsummer of this year ... A combination brick boathouse, comfort station and refreshment concession with, a 360 foot boat landing platform are the main features of the north shore adjacent to 110th Street. Two new entrances will be opened in the north wall of the park with stone stairways leading to the boathouse plaza. Convenient approaches to the two existing marginal playgrounds, north and east of the lake, will be provided."