The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir — originally and sometimes still known as the Central Park Reservoir — is a decommissioned reservoir in Central Park in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA.
[edit] Description
The JKO Reservoir covers 106 acres (43 ha) and holds over 1,000,000,000 US gallons (3,800,000 m3) of water.[1] Though no longer used to distribute New York City's water supply, it provides water for the Pool[2] and the Harlem Meer. It is a popular place of interest; there is a 1.58-mile (2.54 km)[3] jogging track around it and it is also encircled by the park's bridle trail. It is often visited by tourists, especially when its double pink "Yoshino" cherries (Prunus x yedoensis),[4] followed by Prunus serrulata "Kanzan" cherries, are blooming. The rhododendrons along the "Rhododendron Mile" were a gift to the city from Mrs Russell Sage, in 1909. It is one of the main ecological sanctuaries in the Park, housing more than 20 species: aside from the familiar mallards and Canada geese, there may also be seen coots, loons, raccoons, cormorants, wood ducks, grebes, herons and egrets, both in migration and overwintering, making it a favorite venue for birdwatchers.[5]
[edit] History
The Reservoir was built between 1858 and 1862, to the design for Central Park of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux,[1] who designed its two pumphouses of Manhattan schist with granite facings. It was never a collecting reservoir; it was used to receive water from the Croton Aqueduct and distribute it to Manhattan.[6] After 131 years of service, it was decommissioned in 1993, after it was deemed obsolete because of a new main under 79th Street that connected with the Third Water Tunnel and because of growing concerns that it could become contaminated.[7] It was renamed in honor of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in 1994 to commemorate her contributions to the city, because she enjoyed jogging in the area,[8] which lay beneath the windows of her Fifth Avenue apartment.
Panorama of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir at
Central Park looking North
Panorama of the reservoir
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Notes
[edit] External links
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