Heckscher Playground Swings and Climbing Equipment
Description
After the Works Progress Administration (WPA) was launched in April 1935 (renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939), it quickly became the main source of relief funds and labor for the NYC Parks Department. Heckscher Playground in Central Park was one of many playgrounds in New York to be renovated or constructed with WPA funding and labor:
“Before the New Deal, Heckscher Playground was the only playground in all of Central Park, and prior to 1926 there were no playgrounds at all. In 1935 a plan was announced for the “complete renovation and redevelopment of the area”, to include a memorial to Sophie Loeb, a new wading pool, a renovated recreation building, and “swings, slides, see-saws, jungle gyms, horizontal bars and ladders for children, and croquet and horseshoe pitching courts, separated from the children’s area, have been included for adults.”” (www.kermitproject.org)
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Sophie Loeb Fountain
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Heckscher Playground Building
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Heckscher Ballfields
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Heckscher Ballfield
Source notes
The WPA Guide to New York City, p. 351. https://www.kermitproject.org/newdeal/centralpark/heckscher0.html https://kermitproject.org/newdeal/parksprojects.html#commentary
Project originally submitted by Frank da Cruz on July 23, 2015.
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