Lincoln Center in Manhattan detailed plans on Monday for a $335 million makeover of its west edge, a landmark project that it hopes will bring in new audiences and help define the center’s modern legacy.
The plan includes tearing down a wall that has divided the campus from its neighbors along Amsterdam Avenue; building a 2,000-seat outdoor stage that faces its neighbors; and adding more greenery, gardens and an interactive fountain to Damrosch Park.
Mariko Silver, Lincoln Center’s president and chief executive, said the aim of the renovation, which has been in the works since 2023, was to “extend the glorious sense of wonder that inhabits all of Lincoln Center to the west face.” She said the area had “never lived up to its promise,” noting its imposing exterior; its outdated band shell; and its anemic public spaces.
“It doesn’t welcome the neighborhood,” she said. “The spirit of the new park is to be welcoming, green and open — really a gift for New York City and for art lovers everywhere.”
Lincoln Center said construction would begin next spring and finish by spring 2028. The center said it had already raised about $218 million for the project, including a $75 million gift from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, a charity known for its work in arts, education and public health. The design team includes the firms Hood Design Studio, Weiss/Manfredi and Moody Nolan.
Steven R. Swartz, the president and chief executive of Hearst, who serves as chair of Lincoln Center’s board, said he was hopeful the center could get the financial commitments needed for the project by the end of the year, despite recent economic uncertainty.
“The whole notion of putting some additional energy into New York City has gone over great,” he said. “People get it when they see all that we’ve done at Lincoln Center to take the campus to another level.”
On its west side, Lincoln Center is surrounded by the Amsterdam Houses, a public housing complex that first opened in 1947 for World War II veterans. Across the street is LaGuardia High School, known for its music and performing arts programs, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Complex, which houses five high schools.
Under the plan, the center will demolish its current band shell, which sits with its back toward Amsterdam Avenue, and build an amphitheater adjacent to the David H. Koch Theater that looks out over its neighbors to the west.
The wall along Amsterdam Avenue will be torn down to make way for trees and a more welcoming entrance to Damrosch Park. The park will get an expansive new lawn and a small, informal performance and rehearsal area. A couple of blocks to the north, near the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and the surrounding schools, the center will build a seating area.
The renovation is the latest effort by the center to shed its elitist image and to attract more diverse audiences, especially Black and Latino residents across the city.
The center has in recent years worked to diversify its programming and expand access to its campus, including by experimenting with a choose-what-you-pay model for some events. In 2022, the center, working with the New York Philharmonic, completed a $550 million renovation of David Geffen Hall, the Philharmonic’s home, which was also aimed, in part, at deepening community ties and attracting new audiences.
The effort to remake the center’s west edge is partly a response to its complicated history on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. A vibrant neighborhood known as San Juan Hill, which was home to many low-income Black and Latino residents, was razed to make way for the center’s construction, which began in 1959.
Lincoln Center’s leaders, invoking that history, have made public input a priority as they plan the renovation. The center has received more than 3,500 survey responses and held more than 30 events, workshops and focus groups seeking input on the project.
Javier C. Hernández reports on classical music, opera and dance in New York City and beyond.
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