Prospect Park to dedicate first phase of `Lakeside’
The first phase of Prospect Park’s Lakeside restoration project – a new “Music Island” to replace the one destroyed in 1960 for the construction of the former Wollman Skating Rink – will be dedicated on Friday, Oct. 19.
Also dedicated will be an esplanade, to be known as the Shelby White and Leon Levy Esplanade. Music Island is being named in honor of Chaim Baier, Ms. White’s father. The first phase was funded principally by a $10 million grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, a private, not-for-profit foundation created from the estate of Leon Levy, an investor with a longstanding commitment to philanthropy. His wife, Ms. White, is the founding trustee of the foundation.
Recent stories in the media quoted many neighborhood residents and others who complained that the Lakeside’s long-awaited new skating rinks will not be opening for the winter, and in fact may not be ready until the fall of 2013.