History
Grand Army Plaza opened on August 23, 1920 as part of the opening of the IRT Eastern Parkway Line, an extension of the Brooklyn IRT from Atlantic Avenue to Crown Heights – Utica Avenue. This extension was part of an expansion of the subway system known as the Dual Contracts which built not only IRT lines in Brooklyn but also those for the BMT. The BMT Brighton Line was already in use at the time but used trackage that is now part of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle; the opening of the subway line beneath Flatbush Avenue provided a more direct route to Downtown Brooklyn and, eventually, Manhattan.
The construction of the station and tunnels resulted in the removal of Frederic W. Darlington's 1897 Electric Fountain from the center of Grand Army Plaza, which was dug up for the cut-and-cover construction and replaced with a grass oval. Construction began on a new fountain, known as the Bailey Fountain, in 1928, and it was completed in 1932.
Read more about this topic: Grand Army Plaza (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)
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