Boathouse on the Lullwater of the Lake in Prospect Park

Boathouse on the Lullwater of the Lake in Prospect Park is located in the eastern part of Prospect Park on the northeast shore of The Lake, southeast of the Ravine District in Brooklyn, New York. It was built in 1905-07 to a classical design of Helmle, Hudswell and Huberty, protégés of McKim, Mead and White.In September 1964 the Parks Department was within forty-eight hours of demolishing the Boathouse. At the time the structure was underutilized; the boat concession only operated on weekends and the Boathouse was visited by fewer than ten people an hour, even on the busiest summer weekends.The Boathouse shared many features with the McKim, Mead and White masterpiece Penn Station, whose recent demolition had been controversial. The resulting historic preservation movement generated public pressure to save the Boathouse. Though saved, nearly ten years would elapse before restorations would begin on the structure under Commissioner August Heckscher. Further restorations were required in the 1980s under Commissioner Gordon Davis to repair damage from a leaking roof. After twenty years as a visitors center and park ranger headquarters, the Boathouse was restored for a third time in 2000. It now houses the Audubon Center, the Audubon Society's only urban interpretive center in the United States.The Boathouse's fortunes over the last third of the 20th century parallel the larger, and still ongoing, recovery of the park. In the 1980s, the Parks Department began forming partnerships with privately funded, non-profit organizations to help relieve shortfalls in park management.