A new Central Park rec center is set to make a spring 2025 debut, much to park-goers’ delight.
Located next to the Harlem Meer — the site of the beloved annual Halloween Pumpkin Flotilla — the 11-acre Davis Center at the Harlem Meer is the $160 million project from 2021 that is finally nearing completion, and it’s one of the park’s largest undertakings in history. Once the massive project is complete and ready for visitors, expect a lot to love: the eighth-largest NYC swimming pool in the summer, an ice skating rink in the winter, and a turf field in between seasons.
This April 2025 debut was once the site of the old Lasker Rink and Pool, which was built in the 1960s and shut down due to infrastructure issues. It’ll be a year-round facility and at its core, its meant to reconnect people with nature. Expect programs for visitors of all ages that provide access to the Ravine woodland and a reconnected watercourse and new boardwalk spotlighting the Harlem Meer’s shoreline.
“This initiative highlights the critical importance of investing in our cities’ public spaces, ensuring they remain vibrant, accessible, and integral to the well-being of all,” the Central Park Conservancy said in a statement.
But it couldn’t have been done — and this quickly — without immense support behind it.
“A project of this magnitude would not be possible without the extraordinary generosity of our donors and our longtime partnership with the City of New York,” said President
and CEO of the Central Park Conservancy, Betsy Smith. “Their investment in the Davis Center at the Harlem Meer is a testament to the commitment to preserve Central Park and increase its
accessibility so that more people can enjoy this vital civic space year-round.”
We don’t know about you, but we’ve already bookmarked our spring bucket list. For more information on the project, visit the Central Park website.