The New York State Pavilion, a vestige of the 1964 World’s Fair, looks like a dying spaceship sitting in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, or maybe an airport left behind by some forgotten civilization. Once a a vibrant attraction that hosted tourists from all over, the pavilion has been mostly forgotten, unused since the 1970s.
One New Yorker, a filmmaker and teacher named Matthew Silva, hopes to change that, and is shooting a documentary he hopes will raise awareness about the fate of the iconic structure. There are no imediate plans to destroy the pavilion–the Parks Department is content to let it sit and rust for now–but Silva believes it could be the site of a High Line-like rebirth.
“This structure that was really nothing…was converted and re-imagined and brings in tons of money,” Siva told DNAinfo, referring to the High Line. “[The Pavilion] was a monument and was left to decay but could really be turned into something great.”
Silva is funding his film through a GoFundMe campaign, and hopes to have it completed next year.
(Photo: Wally Gobetz/Flickr)
