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Late last year we were given a chance to don our rarely-worn Vera Wang veils and mourn the loss of the Pines Pavilion—Fires Island's main gay entertainment and nightlife hub, which succumbed to a fire in November. While we would've been happy with a simple re-building endeavor, this week we learn that owners plan to exceed expectations with a huge update using one of New York's major design firms.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro, designers of New York's celebrated Highline park, and architectural firm HWKN have been hired on to the Pines Pavilion rebuilding project in an announcement that has left the mouths of Chelsea boys and travelers around the world watering.
Reports the New York Times:
The Pavilion site sits at the entry point of the Pines commercial district which, like much of Fire Island, is connected by a series of boardwalks. The redesign is to begin with a temporary entertainment complex for the 2012 summer season, with a new Pavilion complex in place for the 2013 season.
Charles Renfro, a partner in Diller Scofidio + Renfro who has spent several summers on Fire Island, said the designers are thinking in “broad strokes” about “heightening” the entire commercial district into something more theatrical.
“We’re rethinking it as the Theater of the Pines, a proper name,” he said. “It’s about the comings and goings, the glances, the meetings: all of those things that are particular to the Pines.”
Mr. Renfro said his own collective memories of the Pavilion will come into play as the design evolves. Much as the firm did in its design of the High Line, seeing and being seen will be crucial elements.
Seth Weissman, co-owner of FIP Ventures which owns the Pines Pavilion, in a press statement, “The fire handed us an unexpected opportunity to create something far better than what was destroyed. We’re intent upon building something that will reflect the Pines’ reputation as a mecca of style.”
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