The NY Times just did a piece on fate of the 1964 Worlds Fair grounds. With the fair’s anniversary approaching, the city is deciding what to do with the site, particularly the Pavillion and former Tent of Tomorrow.  It basically comes down three options, $14 million  to demolish the site,  $43 million to stabilize the Pavilion as a eyesore/oddity, or $52  to restore to some of its former glory.

Surprisingly there seems to be a majority of people who want to rehabilitate the space regardless of cost, even getting an architectural firm to work on it pro bono.

That said, be careful what you wish for.  I am probably one of the few people who wouldn’t object to keeping the Pavillion as a ruin.  Having visited the grounds and watch it degrade over 40 years, seeing structures that were so new and inspiring rust and decay, that is where I see the beauty and sadness in the Pavillion, that is why it has its power. Which it would lose if it were renovated and a Shake Shack moved it.  Although, I’d take that over tearing it down, I do love me a good Salted Caramel Concrete shake.

But I don’t live in Flushing or even near Queens, so I don’t even claim to have much of a vote, I just wanted to write about it as an excuse to post photos I’ve take of the Pavillion.