Preserving the Map in the Tent of Tomorrow

The New York Times is reporting today about efforts to preserve a half-acre terrazzo road map of New York State from the 1964-65 World’s Fair. "The map is hidden from public view on the floor of the abandoned, roofless Tent of Tomorrow in the New York State Pavilion, at what is now Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens. The 130-by-166-foot map has cracked and crumbled badly."

From the Tent of Tomorrow website:

The Tent of Tomorrow was the world's largest roadmap. Sponsored by Texaco, this giant facsimile of the Rand McNally map of New York state was composed of large squares of polished Terrazzo. The Map was one of the most popular features of the World's Fair, especially among residents of New York, who"walked the map" looking for their home town. For the 1965 season, many more towns were added to the map at the request of fairgoers who noticed their town missing during the 1964 season.

Here'a photo of how it looked when it was fresh and new:



Here is one of the tiles today still in fairly good condition:



The Queens Museum of Art currently has a exhibit in conjunction with the pilot conservation program. The site includes an interactive locator map.