Prospect Park Bandshell

62 West Drive | also 95 Prospect Park West | Prospect Park | built 1941

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1939

    Aymar Embury II designs the bandshell on a former archery and hockey ground

    The Prospect Park Bandshell was designed by the architect Aymar Embury II and built in 1939, at the end of the Depression-era building boom that Parks Commissioner Robert Moses oversaw in the park. It sits west of West Drive at 10th Street, on a former zoological site that had been used for archery and hockey.

    “The bandshell, designed by Aymar Embury II, was built in 1939 on the site of a former "zoological site", which was used for archery and hockey.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1979

    The Celebrate Brooklyn! summer concert series begins

    Celebrate Brooklyn!, a series of summer concerts that draws performers from around the world, was founded in 1979. The bandshell hosts frequent concerts, and this festival is the best known of them. It is produced by BRIC Arts Media Bklyn.

    “The Bandshell hosts frequent concerts, most notably the "Celebrate Brooklyn!" Performing Arts Festival, a series of summer concerts founded in 1979…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 2000

    The bandshell and Harmony Playground are restored with a musical theme

    In 2000 the Prospect Park Alliance finished restoring the bandshell and the Harmony Playground next to it, and the playground was given a musical theme. The bandshell and several of the Moses-era playgrounds were kept because the venues were popular.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 2021

    June

    The bandshell is renamed for Brooklyn-born entertainer Lena Horne

    The Prospect Park Bandshell took the name Lena Horne Bandshell in June 2021. Horne was a successful entertainer born in Brooklyn, and the renaming was also meant to show solidarity with the Black community.

    Source: Wikipedia

Nearby

All 17 buildings with stories in Prospect Park