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Grand Army Plaza Reopens After Yearlong Renovation

By Shaye Weaver | October 8, 2015 3:22pm
 Fences were taken down on Monday to unveil the newly renovated Grand Army Plaza.
Fences were taken down on Monday to unveil the newly renovated Grand Army Plaza.
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Central Park Conservancy

CENTRAL PARK — Scaffolding around the gold-leafed General William Tecumseh Sherman sculpture came down early this week for the reopening of the park's Grand Army Plaza, according to the Central Park Conservancy.

The iconic statue, standing on Fifth Avenue between 58th and 60th streets, has been refurbished while the plaza was renovated, including repaving, grading for wheelchair accessibility and an overhaul of its drainage and irrigation, according to Elizabeth Kaledin, a spokeswoman for the Conservancy.

Work wrapped up after a year-long restoration and the plaza opened to the public on Monday.

"The renovation was a major undertaking," Kaledin said.

In addition to the structural improvements to the plaza, conservators have also applied new gold leafing and a protective coat of wax to the iconic statue, made in memory of Gen. Sherman, who ushered the end of the Civil War by taking Atlanta.

Gen. Sherman lived in New York City after the war and posed for artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens during the 1880s — the same artist who completed the memorial around the turn of the 20th century, according to the city's Parks Department.

Trees in the plaza that were lost during the 2011 snowstorm have also been replaced with a double row of London planetrees, which is consistent with the plaza's original design, Kaledin said.

Grand Army Plaza is actually made up of two plazas that are separated by two semi-circles near 59th Street, a choice made by designers who were inspired by the Place de la Concorde in Paris, according to the Conservancy.

The southern half features the Pulitzer Fountain, opposite of the Plaza Hotel.

In September, donors of the project — including The Sidney J. Weinberg Jr. Foundation and the Leonard and Evelyn Lauder Foundation — were recognized at a private event at the plaza for providing leadership support for the restoration project, Kaledin said.