Evening star., 1946-05-19

# May sun, and the trees spread
Z fresh green canopies over occa-
r. sional benches along gravel
walks The new park, stretching across
Flushing Meadow, was so thinly peopled
that the shrill voices of children empha-
! sized the stiffness that hung over the
expanse.
Farther from the paved roadway,
along which motors moved with blurred
sounds, there was no thick, tender grass,
but bare patches, with ugly intervals of
rough rock here and there. There were
withered shrubs and broken hedges, and
In the distance, big building with
pillars.
A young mother watched as her s.
year-old boy explored behind the bench.
looking for something he was not sup
posed to have.
WELL" the stranger remarked, "the
United Nations Assembly meets up there
in the old New York City Building in
September"
so heard" she said. Tommy! Drop
that"
"That'n make this place a sort of world
capital for the time being" it was sug-
gested.
That's right" she said. 'There'u be a
lot of people, I suppose. Come on,
Tommy! We've got to 60 and see what
the grocerys out Of today. It's little
cool for May, don't you think?"
Site of Worlds Fair
Recalls 1889 Days
It was hard to realize that this was
part of the Worlds Fair Grounds,
where thousands mingled, day after day,
in q perpetual carnival through the
milder months of 1889 and 1910. There
was hardly trace of it left. There was
only the New York City Building and
that might have been public library
anything. The other great buildings
and the clusters of smaller structures
that made this end of the grounds city
of boisterous gayety had vanished and =
been replaced by this quiet outlook.
The uniformed park attendant bent
over q powered lawnmower. Behind
him was one of the rare mementos of
the fair, tumble of twisted metal.
THAT was the terminal of the fair
railway" he explained. Remember"
They've fixed up nice park at this,
end"
THE city done that" he said. "It's
pretty nice for the people living around
this section"
The visitor pointed to the big building.
He supposed they were fixing it up for
the United Nations.
yeah" he said. They're cleaning
it out. And they'll remodel it,"
Pretty big thing, this United Ma
tions," the visitor ventured.
Sure is" he agreed. II hope they
get along and don't fight among their
selves. We'll, man gets up in the
morning and works all day and goes
home to the little woman and the kids
and tries to figure out how he's gonta
pay his bills. And it goes on that way,
no matter what anybody says or any
body does. This thing needs little
more oil"
The graceful arched bridge over the
roadway was still there, and it led you
directly to the massive structure. Some
of the landscaping was intact. The
front was ornamented by a bed of pop
pies, pink and yellow. Dandelions
dotted the grass nearby.
Trylon and Perisphere
Erased From Site
This area was cluster of buildings
during the fair. A stretch Of stone
marked the place where the Trylon and
Perisphere had been anchored. The
Transportation Building had stood
where weeds were growing in the cracks.
But the city building, made OF steel
and stone, was something permanent in
this banished fairyland. The munich
pality had built it to stay, figuring it
would make nice amusement center in
years to come. One of the massive
doors yielded. 1t was strange to see the
interior stripped to skelton Of plaster,
stone and wood. The last time the re-
porter was here, the vast room teemed
with people intent on its colorful
exhibits.
A dozen workmen loaded the last of
the fixtures into truck backed up at a
side door-an ice box, great coffee urns
They had hot dogs and stuff here
for the skaters" one Of them explained.
The floor had been divided into ice
and roller skating rinks. The ice rink
was stone, with the coils and drains
for the freezing equipment stuck oddly
in the cracks. The wooden section for
roller skating was smooth as a dance
floor.
With the food concession dismantled,
the building was empty and still. The
voices of men in corner hoated stri-
IDENTIFY across the single enormous room.
A low balcony encircles the room, and,
high above, gallery runs around
1t. 1t wouldn't be hard job to re-
model the floor into a big auditorium
Offices could be installed at intervals
around the balcony and the gallery.
The Aquacade Survives
AS a Swimming Pool
= Stepping outside, you could see only
one building of size-the New Jersey
Building, used now as a headquarters
for park policemen and firemen. Billy
Roses Aquacade layout was invisible,