Raymond Granville Barger's Fantasia in the Metropolitan Oval (from village voice close-up on parkchester, bronx
After decades of neglect, the once lovely grounds of the renowned 129-acre Parkchester housing development in the northeast Bronx are looking good again. Parkchester’s 171 residential brick buildings are being renovated, its 500,000 square feet of retail space upgraded, and its sculptures and fountains restored. Its gorgeous 1939 Art Deco theater, the American, has been reconstructed into a 1,400-seat multiplex.
Parkchester’s recent financial rescue is surely the largest and most complex private rescue of a housing development in American urban history — and also the least known.
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After decades of neglect, the once lovely grounds of the renowned 129-acre Parkchester housing development in the northeast Bronx are looking good again. Parkchester’s 171 residential brick buildings are being renovated, its 500,000 square feet of retail space upgraded, and its sculptures and fountains restored. Its gorgeous 1939 Art Deco theater, the American, has been reconstructed into a 1,400-seat multiplex. Parkchester’s recent financial rescue is surely the largest and most complex private rescue of a housing development in American urban history — and also the least known.
- bill 12-10-2005 5:39 pm