After numerous objections were made at the New York City Design Commission hearing on Monday, plans, shown at the right, to redesign a section of the Loeb Boathouse concession in Central Park, including the outside bar, ramp, railings, and deck, were withdrawn by operator Dean Poll, according to a report today by Geoffrey Croft at www.awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com.

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission had recently approved the plans, the article said, but "critics derided the addition of a futuristic new bar, which looked a little like a spaceship, as being out of character with the scenic landmark park."

"The Design Commission agreed, and expressed surprise the plan had made it as far as them, the article said, adding that "the president of the Design Commission, James P. Stuckey, recommended that the designers, Koutsomitis Architects PC, and Parks Department go back to the drawing board, according to the preservation group Landmark West! He requested the applicant return to them at staff level and begin the approval process again with three or four new approaches. Commissioners remarked that the design was alien to the environment of the boathouse; they objected to the bar having a beachy, Copacabana feel. Mr. Stuckey asked the applicant to think more about the appropriateness of the design."

"Opened in 1954," the article continued, "the Loeb Boathouse fits within the English Romantic style of the public park designed by Olmsted and Vaux in 1856, the Design Commission noted. The plan for the redesign went before the Landmarks Preservation Commission on September 28, and in response to the commission's recommendations, and preservation activists, the architects made a number of mostly cosmetic changes: The bar's roof changed from glass to solid copper with two skylights cut out along the sides to allow light into the bar area. The inner gate and structural housing and columns were changed to a dark gray aluminum to blend into the park. The trellis along the outside of the roof above the seating area is now wood rather than aluminum. A major source of contention was the raising of the dock away from the lake. The new design added a wood step down to the water to better visually connect the dock seating area to the water rather than floating so far above it. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the changes at a subsequent meeting on October 12, over the objections of Landmark West!" Landmark West! is a not-for-profit community organization committed to the preservation of the architectural heritage of the Upper West Side.

"By modifying the materials selection - from aluminum to wood, from glass to copper - the reconstructed bar no longer competes with the Loeb Boathouse," Landmark West! told the commission, "nor does it falsely read as an extension thereof. Instead, it is distinctly separate and secondary. Yet for all their intentions, modified dressings do nothing if the design itself remains inappropriate. The bar's design recalls, first, a suburban mall kiosk and, second, a beach-side rest station. But at no point a neo-Victorian pavilion befitting Central Park."

The article said that it was told by the civic organization that it was "is incredibly pleased that the Design Commission took a strong stand on this application, especially after it passed through a number of other stages of public review with far less criticism."

"This was a prime example of money and the desire to generate revenue - not design integrity - being the driving force behind park projects," the organization said, adding that "What we get, of course, is an outrageous, flamboyant design that belongs anywhere but in a scenic landmark like Central Park. The Design Commission picked up on this precisely, and we think it's terrific."