By Della L. Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER WEST SIDE — Sunbathers and opera lovers can now mingle on a sloping 10,000 square-foot public lawn that opened Friday at Lincoln Center as part of the cultural shrine's ongoing renovation.
Using fescue and Kentucky bluegrass, the "Illumination Lawn" will not only provide a new picnic spot on the Upper West Side, but it will also provide an eco-friendly roof for a new restaurant slated to open in the fall.
It will also "bring some green to our campus and soften the monumentality of our buildings," Reynold Levy, Lincoln Center's president, told the New York Times.
On opening day, New Yorkers young and old came to enjoy the grass and sunshine.
“It’s a great place to come bring lunch and tan in between classes,” said School of American Ballet dancer Morgan Lovett, 15.
The new space's hyberbolic paraboloid shape will help Lincoln Center save energy and absorb storm water — plus, grass is cooler than concrete in the summer.
And that could attract visitors.
In the fall, the Patina Group, a fine dining company that runs the Grand Tier in the Metropolitan Opera House, will open a new restaurant under the lawn. Still, Lincoln Center will cater to people “of all pocketbooks,” spokesperson Betsy Vorce said.
“What we really want to do is make Lincoln Center open and accessible to everyone,” Vorce said. “We want to fuse the art and the neighborhood to make it much more transparent.”
The transparency is literal. As part of Lincoln Center’s gradual makeover, marble has been replaced with glass, and tours of the new, green layout are offered seven days a week.
Not everyone, however, feels the Illumination Lawn lives up to its potential.
“I don’t think this fits into Lincoln Center,” said Robin Cohn, an Upper West Side resident. “The lawn is awfully sparse. I preferred the area the way it was, when it wasn’t as stark.”
