And another one bites the dust.
The Huntington Town Board voted 3-2 Tuesday against a move that effectively was the last hope for the former Hotel Huntington downtown on New York Avenue to be designated as a historic landmark, which would have saved it from a proposal that it be bulldozed and turned into a drive-thru TD Bank.
The Huntington Historic Preservation Commission had recommended the town designate the former hotel but the rejection of a proposal for a public hearing on the recommendation means the bank can move forward with its plans.
“It’s unfortunate,” said Town Historian John Hughs, who is on the preservation commission. “The building played a significant part in the development of the village and plays a big part in the current streetscape.”
Sentiment was about evenly split for and against saving the building during public comments made prior to the vote, according to those who attended.
“To make this decision without a public hearing I think is an incredible disservice to the town,” said Councilwoman Susan Berland, who had proposed the measure.
The three-story, 60-room Hotel Huntington had served as a first-class hotel for two decades despite opening for business five months before the 1929 stock market crash, historians have said. It was converted into retail space in the ‘50s and was converted again into office space in the ‘90s.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation reportedly reversed a prior recommendation to have the former hotel designated on the National Register.
The bank proposal now goes before the town planning commission for consideration.
In response, Hughs said the commission plans to be more proactive in the future and create a local watch list of threatened historic properties in the town, similar to the annual Island-wide list issued by The Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (SPLIA).
“We can learn from the past, that’s what we’re here for,” Hughs said.