Another picture from the Botanical Gardens train show: Belvedere Castle in Central Park. Our project there, to restore the masonry and the wood pavilions, has recently gone to contractors for bids and should be in construction soon.
Belvedere is a unique structure, combining thick ashlar masonry walls, wrought-iron beams, and stone-slab floors. It was built before New York had a building code, which is just as well because there is no code that it could have met. It is one of the most prominent structures in the park and arguably the pinnacle – figuratively and literally – of the romantic design of the park. There is a small body of water – the Turtle Pond – with a hill nearby, and what could go on top of the hill but a castle folly?
I’ll be writing more about this project in the future, but for now: it’s an honor to work on the castle.
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