Planning , home of the
New York Philharmonic in Lincoln Center at Lincoln Center, home of the
New York City Ballet A consortium of civic leaders and others, led by and under the initiative of
philanthropist John D. Rockefeller III, built Lincoln Center as part of the "Lincoln Square Renewal Project" during
Robert Moses's program of New York's
urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s. Respected architects were contracted to design the major buildings on the site. In the course of acquiring the land for the complex, more than 7,000 residents and 800 businesses from the
San Juan Hill area of Lincoln Square were displaced. Rockefeller was appointed as the Lincoln Center's inaugural president in 1956, and once he resigned, became its chairman in 1961. He is credited with having raised more than half of the $184.5 million in private funds needed to build the complex, including drawing from his own funds; the
Rockefeller Brothers Fund also contributed to the project. The name was bestowed on the area in 1906 by the
New York City Board of Aldermen, but records give no reason for choosing that name. There has long been speculation that the name came from a local landowner, because the square was previously named Lincoln Square. However, property records from the New York Municipal Archives from that time have no record of a Lincoln surname; they only list the names Johannes van Bruch, Thomas Hall,
Stephen De Lancey, James De Lancey, James De Lancey Jr. and
John Somerindyck. One speculation is that references to President Lincoln were omitted from the records because the mayor in 1906 was
George B. McClellan Jr., son of General
George B. McClellan, who was
general-in-chief of the
Union Army early in the
American Civil War and a bitter rival of Lincoln's.
Historical timeline • April 21, 1955: The Mayor's
Slum Clearance Committee chaired by
Robert Moses is approved by the
New York City Board of Estimate to designate Lincoln Square for urban renewal. • November 8, 1955: John D. Rockefeller III is elected as chairman. • May 14, 1959: Ground-breaking ceremony with U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower. • October 22, 1974: The Avery Fisher Artist Program is founded to give outstanding American instrumentalists significant recognition on which to continue to build their careers. It includes both The Avery Fisher Prize and the Avery Fisher Career Grants. • September 7, 1982: New York State Theater re-opens after renovation to improve acoustics. • August 3, 1987: Classical Jazz, Lincoln Center's first concert series devoted exclusively to jazz, begins in Alice Tully Hall. • January 27, 1991: The Mozart Bicentennial at Lincoln Center opens with concerts held at Avery Fisher Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House, making it the world's largest and most comprehensive tribute to the life and works of Mozart. • June 13, 1994: Beverly Sills is elected Chairman of the Board of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. She is the first woman and the first professional musician to be elected to this position, serving until May 1, 2002. • October 18, 2004: Jazz at Lincoln Center opens. The hall is made up of three theaters: the Rose Theater, the Allen Room, and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. • September 30, 2009: Opening of the redesigned Charles H. Revson Fountain. • June 4, 2012: Claire Tow Theater opens. • October 1, 2013: The New York City Opera files for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and ceases operation. • September 24, 2015: Avery Fisher Hall renamed
David Geffen Hall. • January 22, 2016: The New York City Opera resumes performances in the Rose Theater. • November 16, 2016:
Debora Spar becomes Lincoln Center's first woman president after the sudden departure of Jed Bernstein.
Construction milestones In 1955, the first city institution to commit to be part of the Lincoln Square Renewal Project, an effort to revitalize the city's west side with a new performing arts complex that would become the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, was the
Fordham Law School of
Fordham University. In 1961, Fordham Law School was the first building to open as part of the renewal project, and in 1968, Fordham College at Lincoln Center welcomed its first students. completed in 1991, designed by
Lee Jablin of Harman Jablin Architects, made possible the expansion of
The Juilliard School and the
School of American Ballet. The center's cultural institutions also have since made use of facilities located away from the main campus. In 2004, the center expanded through the addition of
Jazz at Lincoln Center's newly built facilities, the
Frederick P. Rose Hall, at the new
Time Warner Center (now the Deutsche Bank Center), located a few blocks to the south.
Renovations When first announced in 1999, Lincoln Center's campus-wide redevelopment was to cost $1.5 billion over 10 years and radically transform the campus. The center management held an architectural competition, won by the British architect
Norman Foster in 2005, but did not approve a full-scale redesign until 2012, in part because of the need to raise $300 million in construction costs and the New York Philharmonic's fear that it might lose audiences and revenue while it was displaced. Among the architects that have been involved were
Frank Gehry;
Cooper, Robertson & Partners;
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill;
Beyer Blinder Belle;
Fox & Fowle;
Olin Partnership; and
Diller & Scofidio. In March 2006, the center launched the 65th Street Project – part of a major redevelopment plan continuing through the fall of 2012 – to create a new pedestrian promenade designed to improve accessibility and the aesthetics of that area of the campus. Additionally,
Alice Tully Hall was modernized and reopened to critical and popular acclaim in 2009 and
Film at Lincoln Center expanded with the new Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Topped by a sloping lawn roof, the film center is part of a new pavilion that also houses a destination restaurant named Lincoln, as well as offices. Subsequent projects were added which addressed improvements to the main plazas and Columbus Avenue Grand Stairs. Under the direction of the Lincoln Center Development Project, Diller Scofidio + Renfro in association with
FXFOWLE Architects and
Beyer Blinder Belle Architects provided the design services. Additionally,
Turner Construction Company and RCDolner, LLC were the construction managers for the projects. Another component to redevelopment was the addition of the David Rubenstein Atrium designed by
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, a visitors' center and a gateway to the center that offers free performances, day-of-discount tickets, food, and free
Wi-Fi. In 2019,
Diamond Schmitt Architects was appointed Design and Executive Architect for the master plan and renovation of
David Geffen Hall (previously Avery Fisher Hall) concert theater and masterplan. Diamond Schmitt designed the concert hall and back-of-house spaces while TWBTA designed the public spaces. When the Hall reopened in 2022, the main auditorium was renamed the Wu Tsai Theatre after a $50 million donation from
Joseph Tsai and
Clara Wu Tsai. In 2023, Lincoln Center announced plans to renovate the western end of the complex, which included the removal of a retaining wall separating Lincoln Center from the
Amsterdam Houses housing development to the west.
Hood Design Studio and
Weiss/Manfredi were hired to design the renovation of the western part of Lincoln Center. At the time, access to Lincoln Center from the west was possible only by climbing 40 steps near the
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on 65th Street. Details of the project were announced in May 2025; the project would cost $335 million and include a new Amsterdam Avenue entrance, park, and outdoor performance area. About of the retaining wall north of 62nd Street would be replaced by the new entrance. == Architects ==