The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) took over the site and announced in December 1955 that it would build a housing development for $200,000. The Coney Island Chamber of Commerce opposed the project, while the New York City Board of Estimate was in favor. To comply with the Board of Estimate's requests, NYCHA revised its plan in early 1956 to exclude the attractions along Surf Avenue. The site was temporarily used as a public parking lot during the 1956 operating season and again in 1957. NYCHA took title to the site in November 1956 and began constructing the housing project in July 1958. The development was converted to a housing cooperative prior to its completion in 1962. A small part of the site, at Neptune Avenue and West 12th Street, was sold in 1960 and became a shopping center. Description Luna Park was bounded by Surf Avenue to the south, West 8th Street to the east, Neptune Avenue to the north, and West 12th Street to the west. Originally occupying , Luna Park was expanded to by 1904, then to by 1926. At its peak in the early 20th century, Luna Park employed hundreds of people and had its own police force, fire department, and clinic. Compared to the original Dreamland, the original Luna Park was smaller in scale but better organized, leading Town and Country magazine to say: "The impression one takes from Luna Park is one of activity and extreme organization." Luna Park also differed from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which had inspired many of Coney Island's earlier rides and was generally designed in a neoclassical style. According to author John F. Kasson, "The Columbian Exposition preached discipline [while] Luna Park invited release", even though the buildings at both locations were made of plaster. Fred Thompson designed the park's buildings with elements from a variety of sources. Thompson did not want to use classical details, saying: "It is marvelous what you can do in the way of arousing human emotions by the use that you make, architecturally, of simple lines". Generally, the buildings were designed in an Oriental style; many of the park's architectural features were adapted from the Pan-American Exposition, including colonnades, loggias, porticoes, domes, and minarets. The park originally contained over 1,000 red-and-white painted spires, minarets and domes. Luna Park also contained organic architectural details, such as dolphins (which were placed at