New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-08-08
Rice Memorial
Will Take Form
OF Playground
Sum of $l,5OO,OOO Will Be
Expended on Pelham Bay
Park Plant, Which Will
Occupy Over 40 Acres
Stadium Will Be Erected
Mothers House Will Have
Doctors Offices, Nurses
Rooms and Big Pavilion

10 ENJOY tne advantages of play
ground to be built at a cost of $780,
coo. 1t will embody some of the
beauty of Greek architecture and
sculpture and comprise in its equip
ment devices for healthful enjoyment
- and physical developments The play
ground is the gift to the city from
Mrs. Isaac l.. Rice and her family, in
memory of her husband, the late
Isaac l.. Rice, New York fnancier and
. philanthropist.
In the fall of 1915, following the
death of her husband, Mrs. Rice an
nounced her intention, and that of her
children, to spend s1,Oo0,0O0 in the es-
Enlistment of a hospital for GONZALES
cent soldiers.
thirty acres were purchased for the
site near the city, the plans and speci-
ncations drawn and the institution in
. corporated as the Isaac L. Rice
o. Memorial Hospital for Convalescents
But within the months while ar
engagements were being made and
plans maturing, the armistice was
!, signed and it became evident to Mrs
Rlce and those most interested that
the necessity for convalesceut
hospital of the proportions and cana
city planned was not SO acute
Decided on Playground
MRS. Rice was much Interested in
Betsy Head Playground of Browns
VILE, located in one of the poorest and
most populous districts of New York
0lty' and in 1916 presented to the
no5oegh OF Brooklyn a beautiful gate
anu FOUNTAIN to be erected at the en-
trance of the playground Both Mrs
NICE and her husband had always been
interested in child welfare, particular.
~ IN the children of the poor. 1t was
therefore easy for the Rice family to
come to the conclusion that a plav
ground would serve the general vel
1aTe 10 better purpose than a hospital.
remain Bay Park, the location
cnoseh Tor the playground, lies on the
SUM SIDE OF Pelham Bay. The site
consists of 140 acres The entrance to
the playground will be near the sub.
way station at Southern Boulevard
letic field. '''"-
p,UU
Inc GROWING feature of the project
o VIII be the stadium, built of concrete
and located at the extreme end of tho
playground, with a seating capacitv of
o'ooo persons. The stadium will be
capped by Greek temple, in which
thefe Will be marble tablets with let
terlng and at the front a heroic figure
WE'VE feet high, executed by St.
lame, and called THE American Boy"
Inc temple Will rest on monument
tai base, the main feature of which
G ~, De a frleze in bas relief by
CHARLES +. Rumsey, the sculptor. de-
nctlng the meeting of the athletic
olymplad of our day. The frieze will
De polychrome in treatment. The
whoie structure will be SEVENTH feet
hlgh. The approaches to the stadium
VIII surround sunken garden, in the
center of which is pool and a decora-
tive fountain by St. lame.
from the fountain grassy terraces
rise to the wall, which incloses the
garden. Within the stadium itself are
planned dressing rooms. baths. show
crs, etc, with accomm odations for 1000
athletes at one time. In front of the
stadium is the athletic field
On the other side of the athletic
feld, opposite the stadium, is the
swimming pool, sixty-fve feet wide
GU ooO iceI lolg. IN the center the
depth will be seventeen feet, which is
the standard high dive, with equipment
for high diving, which VIII include a
three platform diving tower. Around
the swimming pool a concrete stadium
with three rows of seats will accom-
modate about 1000 persons. A bath
house connected with the pool will
ACCOMMODATE 1000 persons.
One of the most carefully planned
hO
accommodating 1000 persons, in which
Will be located assembly rooms, milk
stations, physicians offices and nurses
rooms. There will be an ice machine
for cooling milk. A pavilion 40 feet
wide and 100 feet long will extend
along either side of the mothers house,
thanking wading pool, 5Ox10O feet
and of two depths Gone for little chill
dren), with border of sand.
Boathouse on Bay
The boathouse will consist of two
towers connected with large pavilion
overlooking the bay. One wing will
contain service room for lunches and
"omen's rooms, while in the other wing
viii be the headquarters for the life
saving crew, business Offices and he
pump room. The swimming pool will
DC filled with salt water pumped from
the bay. Docks and floats will be pro-
vided on the water front for boats.
Eleven flag poles. with decorative
bases. will be placed at intervals
around the playground.
The athletic track and general lay
cut of the athletic field was made
under the personal direction of Fred
w. Ruben, of the Amateur Athletic
Union of America, and General George
w. Wingate, president of the Public
Schools Athletic Association. Governor
Smith and Mayor Hylan have taken a
keen interest in the project. A special
committee of the Board Of Estimate
consisting of Comptroller Charles l..
Craig, Bore ugh Pres ldent Henry W.
Bruckner, of the Bronx, and Major f.
Fl. La Guarda, President of the Board
Of Aldermen, was appointed to study
: the problem. The Board of Estimate
: accepted the Rice gift at a recent
meeting.