The public buildings of Flushing Meadows Corona Park were originally constructed for use as World's Fair pavilions. Most have had extensive renovations in order to conform to present uses. This is not true for the park's two sports stadiums, Shea and Arthur Ashe stadiums which took no part in either of the World's Fairs.

New York State Pavilion built for the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. The city once considered reopening the massive Tent of Tomorrow, with its 9,000 square-foot terrazzo Texaco road map floor, as a hall for rock-n-roll concerts. The idea, like the building itself and the Sky Streak elevator still clinging to the tower, are merely a derelict dream frozen in time. Too bad, the building would have made a grand New York Rock Hall of Fame, and introduced new generations of teens to the park.

Queens Theater In The Park was built as theaterama of the New York State pavilion for the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair, and had a four million dollar renovation in 1993. The Queens Theatre hosts a wide varity of programs.
Queens Theatre Web Page, http://www.queenstheatre.org
Also housed in Theatre In The Park is the renowned Outrageous Fortune Company. They maintain a seperate web site,
TheOutrageous Fortune Company Internet page, http://www.outrageousfortunecompany.com/index.html

Shea Stadium was built to house New York City's second baseball team. In 1957, New York went into deep shock when both the NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers deserted the Polo Grounds and Ebbets Field and blew west to the coast. Something had to be done - so Shea was built and the New York Muts were born. Many an exciting day at the park has taken place since. Plans are afoot to build a new stadium in the parking lot and tear the old -jez, not that old - stadium down.

Arthur Ashe Stadium is the successor to the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium - located a half mile or so south, where tennis in America began. Arthur Ashe aced Shea by literally stealing the air. The new stadium blots out the view of Shea from the center of the park. Situated off the Unisphere's north promenade, the Arthur Ashe Stadium has the loveliest approach to a public building in the city. A visitor strolls along the broad tiled promenade of the Unisphere and enters a long two-sided walkway astride a meticulously kept sculpture garden. The long corridor appears to narrow as the stadium looms in the distance. While a unique experience anytime, take this stroll in early September - worth a trip from anywhere.

The Hall of Science was built as a permanent structure for the 1964 New York World's Fair to house the Science exhibit. Today it houses the New York City Science Museum, and the Queens Aerospace Museum, which is currently undergoing renovation.

This structure, in 1964/1965, was the Top of the Fair Restaurant, with the World's Fair Roof-Top Heliport above the restaurant.   Helicopters took fair goers up for aerial tours of the New York World's Fair - the ticket price was $6.50. Regular helicopter service flew passengers from the roof of this building to and from Manhattan, and local airports. The elite Top of the Fair was the most expensive restaurant at the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. Today it is known as, Terrace on the Park, and still a very elite Queens restaurant.

The Queens Zoo is located next to Terrace on the Park Restaurant about where the popular General Moters pravilian once stood. While not actually a building, it does have a sensational metalwork front gate. Open every day of the year. Check out the Queens Zoo webpage,

The Queens Museum building is another structure that has survived both world fairs to find contemporary uses. Photo at right shows museum building as it looked 65 years ago, April 30, 1939. Throng presses around President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as he declares the New York World's Fair of 1939 "officially open to all mankind."

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FDR Opens 1939 NY Worlds Fair