Performance Plaza

Although the area to your left, between the historic Picnic Pavilion and Wharton Studio buildings, now serves as a parking lot, a century ago it was home to an elegant bandstand -- a gathering space for the community to enjoy live music. Close your eyes and imagine ragtime music filling the park as performers like the nationally acclaimed local musician Patrick “Patsy” Conway and his Famous Ithaca Band took the stage.

Design plans are now underway to restore this parking area to a public gathering space for performances and special events. The “Renwick Plaza and Cayuga Lake Overlook” will be the performance venue Stewart Park has been missing since the bandstand was removed in the 1950s.