Bethesda Fountain. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain are two architectural features overlooking the southern shore of the Lake in New York City's Central Park. The fountain, with its Angel of the Waters statue, is located in the center of the terrace. Bethesda Terrace's two levels are united by two grand staircases and a lesser one that passes under Terrace Drive. They provide passage southward to the Central Park Mall and Naumburg Bandshell at the center of the park. The upper terrace flanks the 72nd Street Cross Drive and the lower terrace provides a podium for viewing the Lake. The mustard-olive colored carved stone is New Brunswick sandstone, with a harder stone for cappings, with granite steps and landings, and herringbone pattern paving of Roman brick laid on edge. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain form the northern end of the Central Park Mall, the only formal feature in the park's original blueprint, the Greensward Plan. Construction of the terrace and fountain occurred during the American Civil War. Only two major structures besides the Bethesda Terrace were completed during the Civil War: the Music Stand and the Casino restaurant, both demolished. By the end of 1861, work on Bethesda Terrace was well underway. The stonework to be installed in the terrace arrived in 1862, and the masonry of the fountain was installed by 1863. In 1864, the stonework of Bethesda Terrace was completed except for minor details, and the Central Park commission hired a sculptor to design the figures for the Fountain. The upper level of the Terrace was mostly built by 1867, by which time the Fountain's figures were being cast in bronze. The Bethesda Fountain was officially completed in 1873. After being abandoned for years except used as a bicycle-rental spot, Bethesda Terrace became a site for The Fountain Cafe, an outdoor luncheon restaurant between 1967 and 1974. It was closed in preparation of restoration work, which did not begin for several years. During this time the site became a congregating spot for the Hair generation before devolving into a drug-trafficking venue in the 1970s. The Terrace, designed by Calvert Vaux with sculptural decoration by Jacob Wrey Mould, was finally restored in 1982, its stonework disassembled, cleaned, deteriorated surfaces removed, restored, patched, and reset. Resodding, and 50 new trees, 3,500 shrubs and 3,000 ground cover plants specified by Philip Winslow followed in 1986. However, after having matured into dense blocks of foliage, these plants were removed in 2008 to make way for plants native to the United States. The Mintons encaustic tiles of the ceiling of the arcade between the flanking stairs, designed by Mould, were removed in the 1980s renovation because the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission deemed the tiles too costly to restore. Instead, the Commission approved the commission of a ceiling mural in its place. Mayor Ed Koch declared in June 1987 that the tiles would be restored. Nevertheless, the tiles sat in storage for more than 20 years until the Conservancy received a private donation for their restoration.