NPS and City Parks to host reopening of restored Overlook Pavilion at General Grant National Memorial on Grant’s Birthday

Date: April 25, 2011
Contact: Darren Boch, 212-668-2251

On the day when the National Park Service (NPS) will observe Ulysses S. Grant's 189th birthday, the NPS and the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) will welcome visitors to the newly restored Overlook Pavilion in Riverside Park. 

The pavilion sits on one of the highest points of elevation overlooking the Hudson River, and was opened in 1910 as a "comfort station" opposite Grant's Tomb. In the 1970s DPR was forced to close the pavilion, and although it remained off-limits to the public its structure was left intact. 

In 2004, the City of New York granted NPS a permanent easement on the site so the agency could rehabilitate the pavilion to preserve the exterior as it appeared in 1910 while turning the interior into space that will serve visitors to the national memorial. The newly restored pavilion will serve as a NPS ranger contact station, and include a public meeting space, interpretive exhibits, bookstore and restrooms.   

WHAT: Reopening of Overlook Pavilion in Riverside Park across from General Grant National Memorial; followed by Ulysses S. Grant's 189th birthday celebration at the memorial (program attached) 

WHEN: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Pavilion reopening at 9:45 am; media previews at 9:00 am Birthday ceremony 11 a.m. Re-enactors, demonstrations and historic music 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 2 p.m. 

WHO: Overlook Pavilion Reopening: Commissioner Maria Burks, National Parks of New York Harbor; Commissioner Adrian Benepe, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation; Ulysses S. Grant's 189th Birthday: Ulysses Grant Dietz, a direct descendent of General Grant; Frank Scaturro, president of the Grant Monument Association; Alvin M. Parker, a descendent of Ely Parker, of the Seneca nation, who served as adjutant to General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War and wrote the final draft of the Confederate surrender terms at Appomattox; and Brigadier General Timothy E. Trainor, Dean of the Academic Board of the United States Military Academy 

WHERE: General Grant NM, 122nd Street and Riverside Drive