It appears that the next generation may be the key to saving Great Neck’s historical landmarks.
At its annual meeting last Wednesday, the Great Neck Historical Society said it has been working closely with both Saddle Rock School and John F. Kennedy School to help raise money and awareness for the Saddle Rock Grist Mill and the Stepping Stones Lighthouse.
The society’s president, Alice Kasten, said the students at JFK have been working on creative projects about how to raise awareness and resolve existing problems at these landmarks.
“We’ve spent the entire year at the Kennedy School,” Kasten said. “We’ve spoken to the student body, and then we’ve spoken to the student government about the lighthouse.”
Kasten said the Kennedy students presented the society with a check for $800 to put toward the lighthouse repairs. She also said that the school has promised to partner with them to help raise money for the lighthouse going forward.
Society treasurer Jay Mankis, who is a long time resident of Saddle Rock, said he felt that if JFK could do something with the lighthouse, so could Saddle Rock.
He said he spoke with the school’s Shared Decision Making Committee, which said that the effort could turn into a series of projects for the students.
“Hopefully, next year, that will be a project they take on,” Mankis said.
Before they can think about making improvements to the Grist Mill, Mankis said, community support is necessary.
“The first thing is to get the support of the community,” Mankis said. “We need to put a little pressure on Nassau County to open up the budget a bit.”
The county is currently working at the Grist Mill on water supply issues, but has assured Mankis that they are being very careful to preserve the building itself.
But without the funds do so, the Grist Mill will remain “closed for the season” — as the sign outside it has indicated for years.
The society, which considers education to be one of its three purposes, has also given history talks in the elementary school classrooms.
This is the first year that the society has gotten into the schools, according to Kasten.
She said that although the society has given history talks at locations such as Temple Beth-El, Temple Israel, Great Neck Synagogue and the Veterans Club at the Social Center, her “absolute favorite talk” was to the one she gave to the second graders at Saddle Rock School.
“They ate it up — they were so active, so involved,” she said. “They were the best. They’ve already booked me for next year — and I’m excited!”
In addition to speaking with the second graders, Kasten said that the society also gave a talk to the fourth and fifth graders about the Grist Mill to try to get ideas on what they might do to save it.
Park District Commissioner Bob Lincoln, who also holds a position on the historical society’s board of directors, said there will always be a light present at the existing location of the lighthouse, but the lighthouse may be replaced with a steel tower if it is unable to be repaired.
“It is in dire need of repair, but it is very, very restorable,” Lincoln said. “All that we need is money, hard work, and a lot of supporters.”
Lincoln said the goal is to be able to have guided tours out at the lighthouse, which he said already occurs at the lighthouse’s twin, the Hudson-Athens lighthouse.
Running tours, Lincoln said, will allow the society to do exactly what it sets out to do — preserve history.
“It’s an exciting thing, a romantic visit,” Lincoln said. “People who love lighthouses will go anywhere to see one.”
Even in its current condition, many people have expressed their interest in going out and seeing the lighthouse, Lincoln said.
To begin the process of repairing the lighthouse, the society must begin to generate interest among community members and begin raising funds. While they have currently raised around $19,000, Lincoln said that this amount is not enough to do any serious work.
“But it’s certainly enough to prime the pump to get things going,” he said.
Lincoln said that the town’s involvement and support is essential to ensure maintenance of the new lighthouse. He said that another lighthouse on Long Island had been already restored once had to be restored again after failed maintenance.
To begin the project, Lincoln said, it is necessary to get the lighthouse weather tight. Even though it may end up taking a couple of years to redo the gutted interior of the lighthouse, Lincoln said that the weather tightening is the main priority.
He also said that those working on repairing the lighthouse met last week with an engineer who will be able to give them an evaluation of the lighthouse. Lincoln said that this evaluation will provide “major steps in” when it comes to executing the next two steps of stabilizing and protecting the lighthouse.
“It’s all about funding,” he said. “As we get money, we can do work.”
The lighthouse, which was built in 1877, has been in disrepair for years.
The efforts to raise funds to repair the lighthouse started in August when the park district and the historical society teamed up with the town to repair the structure, after years of neglect had left it in need of $4 million in repairs.
The National Park Service in 2012 threatened to take ownership of the lighthouse from the town, which was awarded stewardship of the structure in 2008 under the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act, after repairs to the structure went undone.
In addition to working toward improvements to the Grist Mill and lighthouse, the historical society has also been seeking out homes for its Heritage Recognition Program, which identifies and honors Great Neck’s most notable homes.
The program, which began in 2012, recognized the Great Neck Estates Village Hall and two homes, located at 15 Beverly Road and 11 Crampton Ave., this past year.
At the meeting, the society presented its first Outstanding Restoration award to Norman and Gloria Gersman, the owners of the home located at 17 Arrandale Ave.
Records indicate that along with his wife, J. Fred Faigle, who owned a popular, upscale meat market on Middle Neck Road called Faigle’s Meat Market, may have been the original owner of the home that was built back in 1912. After moving in 1994, the Gersmans restored the oak woodwork, removed carpeting, painted the dining room, and secured the porch.
“There are a lot of good vibes in the house,” Norman Gersman said.
Going forward, Board of Directors member Joan Wheeler said the society plans on recognizing The Wychwood, a co-op located in Great Neck Plaza, this July.
They also will continue to work with the elementary schools and community toward restoration of the Grist Mill and lighthouse.
“This is the way to go — to educate the youth, get the parents of the youth involved, and keep educating the youth,” Kasten said.
