Playland (New York)
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Playland Amusement Park
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Ferris wheel at Playland
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| Location | Rye, NY |
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| Nearest city | New York City |
| Coordinates | 40°57′57″N 73°40′26″W / 40.96583°N 73.67389°WCoordinates: 40°57′57″N 73°40′26″W / 40.96583°N 73.67389°W |
| Area | 280 acres (1.1 km²) |
| Built | 1928 |
| Architect | Frank Darling; Walker & Gillette |
| Architectural style | Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Art Deco, Other |
| NRHP Reference # | 80004529 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 4, 1980 |
| Designated NHL | February 27, 1987 |
Playland, often called Rye Playland and also known as Playland Amusement Park, is an amusement park located in Rye, New York. Run by Westchester County, it is one of the only government owned-and-operated amusement parks in the United States.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Playland's waterfront area of Westchester County along the Long Island Sound was the site of a growing collection of recreational developments, including hotels, resorts, and "amusement areas". Local residents concerned about what a county report described as "unsavory crowds" induced the Westchester County Park Association to purchase two existing theme parks, Rye Beach and Paradise Park, and planned a local-government-sponsored amusement park in their stead.
Frank Darling, a veteran park manager with experience at Coney Island and the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, was hired to design and run the new park, called Playland. The well-known NYC architectural firm Walker & Gillette and landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke were commissioned to produce a comprehensive design of both buildings and grounds, making Playland the first planned amusement park in the country. Their asymmetrical beaux arts plan integrated Playland’s three major components. The first component, a swimming park, is defined by a semi-elliptical beach, boardwalk, and arcade. At the center of this arcade, a Spanish Revival bathhouse and pool terminates the automobile approach along Playland Parkway and its twin towers frame a view of Long Island Sound. The second component, an amusement park, is laid out along an axial landscaped mall at roughly 90 degrees to the Parkway approach. An entrance plaza with central fountain at the beach end of this axis is defined by corner pavilions and anchored by a casino and ice rink building. The axial mall is flanked by colonnades which serve to visually organize the various rides, games, and restaurants on each outboard side. A midway cross-axis terminates in a gate at the large parking lot on its inland end and at a promontory at its waterside end. The main axis terminates in a 100 foot tall Music Tower that now has a performance stage at its base. All original amusement park buildings are in an Art Deco style. The third component, a boating lake, lies beyond the tower. Its boathouse consists of two pavilions symmetrically flanking a central colonnade, facing a terrace and boat dock and the lake. Construction commenced in September 1927 and was completed in six months. The park began operation on May 26, 1928.
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