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Click on our 'Educational Resources' section in the menu at the top of this page to learn more about signing up for student visits at our historic house museums. SPLIA will also come to your school with historic Long Island programming.
| SPLIA ANNOUNCES LONG ISLAND'S 2011 LIST OF ENDANGERED HISTORIC PLACES- CALLING ATTENTION TO THREATENED L.I. PROPERTIES WITH HISTORIC IMPORTANCE
Long Island is gradually losing connection to its cultural heritage through the demise of its historic environments. Every year, historic places spanning the length of Long Island are increasingly threatened by adverse conditions that result from a variety of complex issues. Whether an outright plan for demolition, a lack of appreciation for historic value, or the inability to develop and implement long range planning, all point to the need for improved outreach, education, coordination, and region-wide support for the protection and reuse of historic resources. Recognizing this need and building on other state and national models, the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities has established an Endangered Places Program for Long Island. Selected through a competitive nomination process, SPLIA's list for 2011 consists of four properties that exemplify the vast diversity and character of Long Island's historical resources: an internationally themed and master planned communal waterfront; a commercial streetscape anchor that has gone from hotel, to department store, to office; the home of a significant American family who chose Long Island residential life in the 1960s in which to create their art; and a 150 year old time capsule representing Long Island's farming heritage. In alphabetical order, the following make up Long Island's List of Endangered Historic Places for 2011:
1) American Venice Administration Plaza and Laguna San Marco (1925-1926), Copiague
Landmark Designations: Babylon Historic District, 2007
Created in the mid-1920s to serve as the waterside recreational center of a Venetian-themed planned community located on the Great South Bay, the American Venice Administration Plaza and Laguna San Marco complex represents the ambitious scope of suburban Long Island development before the Great Depression. A romantic interpretation of White City ideals applied to a residential community, the complex is comprised of a man-made lagoon and island (which once housed a gazebo), two administration buildings (currently encapsulated as one under a 1960's addition), and two winged-lion columns. Currently used as a commercial marina, the complex, along with its residential neighborhoods, was designated a local historic district by the Town of Babylon in 2007. Despite the outward appearance of compromised historic integrity, it is believed that many architectural details remain hidden under exterior surfaces. What remains of the complex is in critical condition and is threatened by continued exposure and decline. The Town has made explicit efforts to purchase the property from the current owner in order to re-establish the site "as a cultural and economic asset to the community." Thus far, these offers have been declined, preventing the realization of an extensive restoration and revitalization plan. The deterioration and ultimate loss of this carefully planned large-scale resource will contribute to a diminished understanding and appreciation of early twentieth century residential developments on Long Island, and a lost opportunity for the complex to serve as a refined historic public attraction.
2) Hotel Huntington (1929), Huntington
Landmark Designations: Proposed local landmark
The Hotel Huntington is a substantial historic resource that illustrates Huntington's downtown commercial development patterns after World War I. Designed by Long Island architect, August H. Galow, the hotel was the result of local investment interests organized through the Chamber of Commerce paired with a vision of Huntington as a sophisticated urban destination. Despite opening for business five months before the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929, the three-story, sixty-room building successfully served as a first class hotel for two decades. The stature and sophistication of the building shaped New York Avenue's south side, anchoring a new entrance to the town's expanding business district. The building was converted into a high-end department store in 1950 and continued to serve as retail space until the 1990s when it was converted again for office use. During this time, the building's material integrity diminished (particularly interior design features) but it continues to contribute to the streetscape's historic character, defining the edge of the walkable local commercial district. The large, appropriately scaled structure of the former Hotel Huntington is a good candidate for a multi-purpose, adaptive reuse plan that typically enhances downtown vitality. The building's current owner has recently entered into an agreement with TD Bank who has submitted plans to the Town of Huntington to demolish the building and replace it with a one-story branch building with drive through teller accommodations. The Town's Historic Preservation Commission has recommended local landmark designation for the building with strong support from local residents to halt the immediate threat of demolition. The community, in opposing this contextually insensitive incursion, calls for the Hotel Huntington's rehabilitation and the creation of a mixed-use redevelopment that adheres to principles outlined in the Town's comprehensive plan.
3) John Coltrane Home (1952), Dix Hills
Landmark Designations: Local Landmark; New York State Register; National Register
The John Coltrane Home is a nationally valued site that describes the private life of a significant person in American history and also speaks to the African American experience during the Civil rights era. Originally built in 1952, this suburban tract house was purchased by Coltrane in 1964 as a family home and would be his last place of residence before he died in 1967. It was the site where some of Coltrane’s most important work was composed including "A Love Supreme," which is considered by many to be his masterwork. Until 1973, it was also where Alice Coltrane pursued her creative activities. Thereafter the building lost its association to the Coltranes and fell into serious decline after a decade of vacancy. In 2003, the property was rediscovered with much of its Coltrane-era features intact and was purchase jointly in 2006 by the newly formed Friends of the Coltrane Home and the Town of Huntington. The Friends have successfully stabilized the house, but have yet to engage further plans to restore and interpret the site as a center for education and the advancement of the Coltranes' legacy. At present, the Friends lack capacity to begin realizing their goals and the building is at risk of gradual decline due to stasis. The group was recently awarded a matching state grant through the Environmental Protection Fund to produce a Historic Structure Report, but it is unknown whether they will be able to meet the challenge. A save for this building entails organizational development for the Friends and assemblage of strong supporters to insure sufficient rehabilitation to allow public access and programming.
4) Marion Carll Farm (1860), Commack
Landmark Designations: Local Landmark, New York State Register, National Register
The Marion Carll Farmstead in Commack is a time capsule of Long Island rural life spanning the late nineteenth into the early twentieth centuries. Located upon a nine-acre site surrounded by a residential golf community, it contains an 1860 farmhouse, several outbuildings and an impressive collection of Carll family artifacts. Marion Carll gifted the property in 1968 to the Commack School District under terms that it would be used for historical educational purposes. Such programming was offered by the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) until 1992, but since then the building has been vacant. Currently, the buildings and historical contents are under imminent threat due to environmental exposure and general long-term neglect. A preliminary sales agreement between the school district and the developers of the surrounding community was recently halted after local residents adamantly opposed their proposed high-density townhouse development that included restoration of the farm buildings in exchange for a zoning variance. In response a new group, the Friends of the Marion Carll Community Farm in association with the Commack Community Association, has formed to lead the preservation of the site. To date however, the school district expresses intentions to sell the property, with no evident interest to partner with this group. The fragility of ownership by public entities that do not have the resources to adequately care for bequeathed properties represents an increasing trend for many historic Long Island sites. The preservation of this property depends upon the formation of a supportive relationship between the friends and the school district, funding for immediate stabilization of the resources, the development of a feasibility study, and the implementation of its recommendations.
The Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities
161 Main Street
P.O. Box 148
Cold Spring harbor, NY 11792
www.splia.org
Alexandra Wolfe, Director of Preservation Services
awolfe@splia.org
| INSIDE THE CAMPBELL APARTMENT AT GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL-SPLIA WINTER BENEFIT THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2ND FROM 6:30PM UNTIL 8:30PM
Don't miss out! Space is limited! The Campbell Apartment was never actually an apartment but a luxurious office for the financier, railroad and garment industry tycoon, John W. Campbell (1880-1957).The term "apartment" is used in the British sense as a room for private use.
Designed by Augustus N. Allen (in 1923), whose commisions included Long Island country houses and Manhattan town houses, the opulent office resembles a 13th century Florentine palace with a hand-painted plaster of Paris ceiling, leaded windows and an enormous faux fireplace holding a safe.
After his death in 1957, the apartment was used to store transit equipment and at one point it became a small jail. The space was restored as the Campbell Apartment in 1999.
Tickets are $150, $200 or $300 each. Tours of Grand Central are being "conducted" at 5:30 and 6:30. Let's meet at the clock!
Call 631-692-4664 Mon.-Fri. for more information.
| STINKY SMELLS AND LOVELY SCENTS HIKE AT SHERWOOD JAYNE FARM, EAST SETAUKET SATURDAY, JANUARY 21 10AM-11:30AM
Spring isn't the only fragrant season - even the stark winter woods are full of scents. Join Seatuck Environmental Association on this short hike as we try to identify as many different winter smells as we can find. To register call 631-581-6908 Fee: $4 for SPLIA and Seatuck members and $8 for non-members
| SLUGS, GRUBS AND OTHER BUGS-SATURDAY, MARCH 24, 1PM-2:30PM AT SHERWOOD JAYNE FARM E. SETAUKET
Armed with bug boxes and magnifying glasses we'll turn over logs and dig through the leaves to find out what kind of bugs are hiding right below our feet. There is a fee of $4 for Seatuck and SPLIA members/$8 for non-members. You must register at 631-581-6908
| SILENT NIGHT HIKE-SATURDAY, MARCH 3 6PM-7:30PM AT SHERWOOD JAYNE FARM IN E. SETAUKET
Listen for the sounds of nocturnal animals as we quietly hike through woods inthe dark. Discover how peaceful and different the nighttime forest is from the day. There is a fee of $4 for SPLIA and Seatuck members/$8 for non-members. You must register at 631-581-6908
| SENSE OF TOUCH-SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12 FROM 1PM-2:30PM AT SHERWOOD JAYNE FARM IN E. SETAUKET
We'll explore the textures of the forest as we find our way through the woods with our eyes closed, using only a string to guide our way. Naturalists will be on hand to ensure everyone is safe! There is a fee of $4 for Seatuck and SPLIA members/$8 for non-members. You must register at 631-581-6908
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