People for the Pavilion co-founder Christian Doran, right, with Matthew Silva, left, and Salmaan Khan during a tour Borough President Melinda Katz held at the pavilion last Thursday. Photo courtesy Matthew Silva
Christian Doran, a Maspeth resident and co-founder of People for the Pavilion, was remembered this week as a charismatic leader who threw his all into everything, whether that was preserving the borough’s history, music, or his relationships with family and friends, said those mourning the man who passed away suddenly Saturday night.
Doran, 28, died after suffering from an asthma attack, according to his friend and another co-founder of People for the Pavilion, Matthew Silva.
People for the Pavilion, which was led by Doran, Silva and Salmaan Khan, was created to preserve the historic New York State Pavilion, which was designed for the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Silva and Khan said they will continue to work on Doran’s vision of preserving the Tent of Tomorrow and Observation Towers.
“Christian was a guy who had a great sense of humor and definitely had a lot of friends and a lot of close relationships with his family,” Silva said. “He was a great guy, and the thought of moving forward on this project without him is very heartbreaking. When we started this thing, we knew we’d be working on it for a very long time together, and we had mutual hopes and dreams for what could happen. We felt like we’d be sharing these experiences together as a team.”
A lifelong resident of Queens, Doran was a 2003 graduate of Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood. He was a musician and worked as an an audio engineer at Queens Theater in the Park, which was adapted from the former Theaterama that was one of three components of the New York State Pavilion.
“Growing up in Maspeth, he’d always see the pavilion building, and, similar to a lot of people my age, it’s one of these structures that’s very mysterious,” Silva said. “When you learn the history of the building, there’s something striking and enchanting about it. Christian was a creative guy, and he saw the building as a potential community space.
“Having worked in the theater, he was fortunate to have been able to go into the pavilion several times, and he told me the first time he went in there he was in awe, and he felt like it’s a space that the community of Queens should be able to share,” Silva continued. That’s something he really, really cared about.”
People for the Pavilion had just held its first meeting on Jan. 25 – and the event was a resounding success, drawing a couple hundred people to discuss the future of the building. Following that meeting, Borough President Melinda Katz led a tour of the pavilion last Thursday, at which time she and a myriad other elected officials, civic leaders and preservationists said they would stop at nothing less than preserving the iconic structure. Doran too was on last Thursday’s tour.
“I was shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden and unexpected death of Christian Doran, one of the co=founders of People for the Pavilion, which has been advocating for the preservation of the New York State Pavilion in Flushing Meadows Corona Park,” Katz said in a prepared statement. “I spoke with Mr. Doran just last Thursday during a walking tour I had organized of the pavilion and was very impressed with his dedication to making sure that this iconic structure is preserved for future generations to enjoy. I know those efforts will continue, and I will work diligently to fulfill Mr. Doran’s wish that the pavilion never be torn down. My deepest condolences go out to Mr. Doran’s family, friends and colleagues.”
In a joint message, Silva and Khan described Doran as someone with whom they immediately wanted to work.
“He had not just a deep, sincere passion for the pavilion, but the guts, ideas, and work ethic necessary to make things happen,” they said. “During the long hours the three of us spent together in diners and coffee shops discussing our ideas, plans and goals, Christian became more than a colleague to us. He became a friend and a brother, someone whose thoughtful approach to our effort always made us feel like success was not just possible, but probable.”
The wake for Doran was held Tuesday, Feb. 11, and Wednesday, Feb. 12, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Gleason’s Funeral Home at 149-20 Northern Blvd. in Flushing. The funeral will be held Friday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Gregory the Great Church at 242-20 88th Ave. in Bellerose.
In lieu of flowers, Doran’s family has requested that donations be made to the Mid Hudson Valley Camp. Doran volunteered his time at the camp, which offers programs for children and adults with mental disabilities, children living with cancer, inner city students, and others.
By Anna Gustafson
