Architects: Harrison & Abramovitz; Philip Johnson; Eero Saarinen; Pietro Belluschi; and others.

Lincoln Center in History: One by one, over the course of the early-60s, the West Side complex greeted the openings of Avery Fisher Hall (then Philharmonic Hall), the New York State Theater, the Vivian Beaumont Theater, the Metropolitan Opera House, and the Juilliard School. By 1966, Lincoln Center had transformed an abandoned, undeveloped region (Robert Moses was chairman of the Mayor's Slum Clearance Committee that oversaw the redevelopment) into the premier arts complex in the nation, which it remains today.

Lincoln Center Today: Whither Lincoln Center? No one disputes that the aging complex is badly in need of a facelift. But differences of opinion as to what form these refurbishments should take have created a troubling split in the center's board of directors. Most agree that architect Frank Gehry's idea for a dome to cover the plaza will never work out. But disagreements over the construction of a new home for the New York City Opera in Damrosch Park and other concerns have left plans for Lincoln Center's future up in the air.

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