Perched on the northern shore of the Harlem Meer, the Park's northernmost body of water, is Central Park's newest building, which opened to the public in 1993.
The Charles A. Dana Discovery Center serves as the Upper Park's visitor center and offers a wide variety of the Conservancy's free family and community programs.

The Park north of 96th Street is more rugged and picturesque than its southern counterpart. The pre-Park northern terrain was naturally wilder, with large rocky outcroppings amid low-lying areas. When Olmsted and Vaux first surveyed the proposed park land, they decided that a rugged terrain would be the ideal complement to their southern pastoral vision. They also decided that it would be too costly to significantly reshape the natural northern geography. In fact, the Park was extended from its original northern border of 106th Street to 110th Street because it would have been too expensive for commercial developers to demolish and rebuild in that rocky and swampy area.

Today the City has grown far beyond the Park's northern borders, and enthusiasm for the area has grown as well. Many visitors consider the newly restored Harlem Meer one of the Park's most beautiful landscapes. Swans nest on Duck Island in the Meer and cormorants patrol the shoreline for fish. Catch-and-release fishing at the Harlem Meer has become a favorite family and community pastime. The Dana Discovery Center provides poles, unbarbed hooks, and instruction booklets. There is also a fishing jamboree celebrated each year after Labor Day.

The Dana Center offers seasonal exhibits in its Great Hall, often in collaboration with other City cultural institutions. Outside the Great Hall is a small deck overlooking the Meer with an unobstructed view of the Park's landscape to the south. Educational programs are conducted upstairs throughout the year.


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