West Harlem Community Organization and Morningside Park Coalition participating in the redesign process. In 1981, as part of the "Olmsted Project", the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) held two shows that depicted Morningside Park, including a Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit. At that time, Morningside Park was being considered by the LPC for "scenic landmark" status, but this was opposed by residents and activists wanted to redesign the park. The same year, Thomas Kiel and other Columbia undergraduates founded the Friends of Morningside Park, which supported returning the park to its original design. NYC Parks drew up plans for a $12 million restoration of the park between 1987 and 1989. At that point, Columbia had given $250,000 toward the renovation, half of what it had pledged toward the restoration of the site. A $5 million first phase began in early 1989 and was conducted by a partnership of Quennell Rothschild Associates and Bond Ryder James. It entailed converting the excavated crater left by the abandoned gymnasium project into a waterfall and ornamental pond, which was the first part of the renovation to be completed in 1989. The pond, part of Olmsted and Vaux's original plan, cost $950,000, about three times as much as "standard landscaping". Contractors installed wells to feed the waterfall and the pond. The reconstruction, which focused on the park between 110th and 114th Streets, also included installing new playground equipment, planting trees, creating a picnic area and renovating the sports fields. The 1957 fieldhouse was also redesigned, and a new entrance was installed at 113th Street and Morningside Drive. This renovation was completed in 1993. There was little funding to perform further renovations at the northern part of Morningside Park then, and there was just one maintenance worker for the entire park. As a result, the northern part of the park was still overgrown with weeds and frequented by drug addicts. NYC Parks began a renovation of the 116th Street stairs in July 1996 and completed it two years later at a cost of $650,000. After the statues were refurbished, the bluestone steps at 116th Street were renovated in 1998. The same year, construction began on the Dr. Thomas Kiel Arboretum in the northern part of the park, named after a founder and former chairman of the Friends of Morningside Park who had died in 1996. In 1998 and 1999, the Morningside Area Alliance (MAA),