The Boathouse on the Lullwater of the Lake in Prospect Park is in the eastern part of Prospect Park in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It is situated on the northeast shore of the Lullwater, a waterway north of Prospect Park's Lake and southeast of the

Ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm that came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in fin de siècle New York. The firm's founding partners Charles Follen McKim (1847–1909), ...

. It supplanted an older wooden boathouse further north. The classical design contains an

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

facing the Lullwater, with a canopy supported by columns of the

Tuscan order The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with ...

. The

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

at the top of the columns contains

triglyphs Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the tri glyphs on a Doric frieze ar ...

, and a

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its c ...

runs atop the canopy, surrounding it and forming a second-floor terrace. The interior of the Boathouse had double staircases that ascended to a second floor, merging at a landing in the middle. There was a boat-renting office at ground level, between the staircases. The second floor was composed of a dining room with doors opening outward onto the terrace. The terrace received a shed in 1915. By the 1960s, the structure was underutilized. The boat concession only operated on weekends and the Boathouse was visited by fewer than ten people an hour, even on the busiest summer weekends. At one point in September 1964, the Parks Department was within forty-eight hours of demolishing the Boathouse. The Boathouse shared many features with McKim, Mead and White's original

Pennsylvania Station Pennsylvania Station (often abbreviated Penn Station) is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) to several of its grand passenger terminals. Several are still in active use by Amtrak and other transportation services; others have been ...

, whose 1960s demolition had been controversial. The resulting

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

movement generated public pressure to save the Boathouse. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1972. (includes one map) ''See also:'' Though the Boathouse was saved, restorations were deferred for several years. The interior renovations began in 1971, under Commissioner August Heckscher. The Boathouse reopened to the public in 1974, but the exterior terracotta was not renovated until 1979. Further restorations were required in the 1980s under Commissioner Gordon Davis to repair damage from a leaking roof. After twenty years as a visitors center and park ranger headquarters, the Boathouse was restored for a third time in the late 1990s because of deterioration in the terracotta. It now houses the Audubon Center, the

Audubon Society The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...

's only urban interpretive center in the United States.

References

Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn New York City Designated Landmarks in Brooklyn Prospect Park (Brooklyn) {{Brooklyn-struct-stub