Story by Julie Mautner


Inset photo by Mark Hunsberg

When the Lake Park Pavilion opened in July 1903, the main floor was used for indoor summer concerts and the lower floor as a changing room for lake swimmers. That same year, a local photographer captured a photo of concert-goers set just west of the pavilion, where a gazebo, torn down in 1954, once stood. A copy now hangs in Lake Park Bistro, the upscale eatery restaurateurs Joe and Paul Bartolotta opened in the pavilion after signing a 20-year lease in 1995 and completing a $1.3 million renovation. At some point thereafter, a collector sent Joe a worn postcard of the photo, which he enlarged and framed – and restaged earlier this year, inviting both employees and customers to show up at Lake Park on Sept. 5 in modern dress. Joe himself is seen standing at the back left of the photo in a blue shirt and hat.

“There are a few new trees and light posts,” says Jana Michaelis, creative director for Bartolotta Restaurants, “but we got as close to the original shot as possible.” The new version will hang next to the old in the restaurant. And for some time to come, as Bartolotta just signed a “multiple-year” lease extension on the Lake Park building. ■

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