Blog

New Wel­come Cen­ter to Open on Gov­er­nors Island

May 3, 2017 3:46 pm

Gov­er­nors Island will soon be wel­com­ing vis­i­tors like nev­er before!

A new Wel­come Cen­ter will be the first thing vis­i­tors see when dis­em­bark­ing from the Man­hat­tan fer­ry on Gov­er­nors Island. Debut­ing at the end of May, this is just one of the ways the Island’s ser­vices are expand­ing and improv­ing to enhance the vis­i­tor expe­ri­ence. Staff and vol­un­teers at the new Wel­come Cen­ter will greet and ori­ent vis­i­tors, pro­vid­ing way-find­ing and oth­er use­ful infor­ma­tion need­ed to enjoy all the Island has to offer. 

Select­ed via a com­pet­i­tive design process, the tem­po­rary struc­ture acti­vates an under-uti­lized lawn for mul­ti­ple uses — as an infor­ma­tion hub, a gath­er­ing place and a small shop. Upon dis­em­bark­ing, vis­i­tors will be able to stop by the 800-square-foot struc­ture to get infor­ma­tion and direc­tions, pick up water, sun­screen and oth­er out­door essen­tials, grab a brand­ed Island sou­venir, or relax on built-in seat­ing in the shade of the soar­ing wood­en canopy roof.

Ini­tial­ly planned to be open on week­ends start­ing in June, the Friends of Gov­er­nors Island, which fund­ed and will oper­ate the Wel­come Cen­ter, is look­ing to expand to dai­ly hours in the future.

Read more about the Cen­ter’s unique design in this pro­file in Archi­tects News­pa­per.

In addi­tion to the Cen­ter, this year the Island is also debut­ing two new ​“Mobile Info Units,” designed by Stu­dioK­CA. The first of their kind, these pro­to­type Units con­sist of a cus­tom out­fit­ted bicy­cle frame with a cube that unfolds to reveal seat­ing, USB charg­ing sta­tions, map dis­plays and stor­age. The exte­ri­or of the cube rais­es to become a canopy equipped with solar pan­els, enabling pow­er and shade on the go.