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The Central Park Arsenal
The Central Park Arsenal, designed to resemble a medieval castle, has been used for just about everything. It has been a munitions depot, a police precinct, a museum (that would later turn into the Natural History Museum), a weather bureau, a zoo, and an art gallery.
Constructed in 1851 as a munitions depot for New York State's national guard, it is the second oldest building in the park. And located at 64th and Fifth Avenue, it was considered to be at an ideal position to deploy troops to the city or to either coastline.
The Building was taken over by the famous Robert Moses in 1934 as his command center and currently remains as the office of the parks commissioner.
I got a chance to tour of the building as part of the last Open House New York. The building has clearly been recently restored, as everything was a little too clean and pristine for my historical tastes. Swords, Cannonballs and Muskets line the entrance to the building, and the entryway is filled with large and ancient murals of troops in military formation and Central Park life in the 19th century.
The interior is more cramped than I had imagined, but it holds a treasure trove of historical memorabilia, including old statues, maps, paintings, an old weather vane and an old merry-go-round horse. But the crown jewel of the collection is the Greensward Plan, the original blueprint for Central Park that was created by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.
The roof of the arsenal holds a tiny garden and chairs and tables for workers to relax on. The views here overlook the Central Park Zoo, right at the treeline of the park and are simply amazing.
Entrance to the Arsenal
Entryway murals painted by Allan Saalburg
The Greensward Plan, with each individual type of tree chosen and numbered
View from the main conference room
The Central Park Zoo and the view from the rooftop
