"Guard it well Mr. Mayor
and Mr. Parks Commissioner. Flushing Meadows Park has echoed
to the sounds of many footsteps and voices. The world has beaten
a path to its doors. Now we return it to the natives."
-Robert Moses at the Dedication
of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, June 3, 1967
In 1979 a committee of the Flushing Meadows-Corona
Park World's Fair Association formed a corporation to investigate
and plan a proposal for a fourth New York World's Fair for the
year 1989 - the 50th anniversary of the 1939 Fair and the 25th
anniversary of the 1964 Fair.
The Corporation was made up of an influential
board of New York civic and business leaders. The concept attracted
widespread public and press support. The first order of business
was to create a Theme Committee that would determine the rationale
for the proposed exposition and its potential role in history
and its impact on New York. The Theme Committee consisted of
a wide ranging group of architects, historians, urban planners,
artists, religious leaders and others and met over an almost
two year period.
The result was the following 158 page document
which was presented to the Mayor of New York City, the Governor
of New York State, members of Congress and the BIE in Paris.
It received endorsements from all of these parties. However serious
political considerations at the time in New York - unrelated
to the '89 Fair project - caused the effort to delay beyond certain
international deadlines. The following report has not been seen
in nearly a quarter century. All copies (50 in full color, leather-bound
editions, 200 black-and-white versions) were distributed at its
time of issue to appropriate parties. We felt that a review of
it now by interested World's Fair enthusiasts as well as civic
and political leaders might provide not only a glimpse into what
might have been - but a tantalizing glimpse into what might be
if New York seriously reaches again for a fourth World's Fair
in 2015.
In perusing this document keep in mind
that it is a work that was formulated in a pre-internet, pre-home
computer, and pre-9/11 world. But there were forward looking
and inspiring elements that could well still form the seeds or
foundations for a profound local, national and international
endeavor.
We are happy to now share it with you.
David G. Oats
President
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
World's Fair Association
June 3, 2006
on the 39th Anniversary of
the Dedication of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park
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