Central Park (Allentown, Pennsylvania) Central Park (Allentown, Pennsylvania) Central Park is a former amusement park in the Rittersville section of Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was closed in 1951. Central Park's origins date to 1868 when J. Frank Reichart laid out a race course north of the Allentown-Bethlehem turnpike (Hanover Avenue) which was opened for trotting and pacing from May to August. In 1872 the Rittersville Park Association was organized. The park was enlarged to 16 acres and was known as Manhattan Park. When the Allentown & Bethlehem Rapid Traction Company took ownership of the area from Thomas Ritter it was called The Greater Central Park.
Central Park Robert Moses started a program to clean up Central Park. Another decline in the late 20th century spurred the creation of the Central Park Conservancy in 1980, which refurbished many parts of the park during the 1980s and 1990s. Central Park was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1963, which in April 2017 placed it on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage sites. The park, managed for decades by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, is currently managed by the Central Park Conservancy under contract with the municipal government