This building originally built in the late 1920’s, for storage with roof serving as a public terrace. On the public terrace accessible from CPW once stood a stand from which milk was dispensed. The building can be seen as a projection of the perimeter wall into the Park creating an almost “square box”. Construction of 8th Avenue subway tunnel was well under way before construction of this building commenced. The building hence “overlaps” and “wraps” the subway tunnel in a way. The building overlaps the structural framing of the tunnel, and an existing MTA utility access hole structure penetrates through the rear of the building. At some point the building was converted into a public restroom, remaining largely untouched since the 1970’s until this comprehensive restoration was completed in 2019.

The goal of the project was to maximize the available space to house year-round accessible public restrooms, an irrigation pump, while maintaining existing MTA utility access hole structure. This required a compete gut renovation of the interior with new interior layout wrapping around the existing MTA structure, creating space for mechanical and other equipment.

Read more on this project here.