SCOUTING
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An Abandoned Treasure May Soon Be Lost – The Fight to Save St. Paul’s

09/13/2010

Over the past few months, I’ve been getting letters from readers about an abandoned school in Garden City, Long Island, called St. Paul’s, on the verge of being demolished. Last Friday, I hopped the train with my bike and camera to have a look for myself.

It took less than five minutes to bike to St. Paul’s from the Garden City train station. Located in the center of town, the beautiful High-Victorian Gothic-style 500-room structure was built in 1879 as an all boy’s prep school, and was in use until 1991 (over a century!).

Today, despite being in fantastic shape, it is completely vacant.

Taking pictures of this awesome building, I have to admit – it was actually difficult to imagine so commanding a structure being subjected to a wrecking ball. And yet, a village-wide opinion poll was held in 2008, in which a majority of residents voted for its demolition, a course the town is actively pursuing.

Except, here’s the funny thing. On the ballot in 2008 were three options: 1) demolition (2,272 votes), 2) saving the exterior only (1,857 votes), and 3) converting the building into condos (873 votes) – in other words, two proposals to save the building, and one to destroy it. I’m no genius, but it looks to me that a majority of the town (2,730 votes) definitely wants to keep St. Paul’s alive.

So strange, then, that they’re moving ahead on the demolition proposal. A passionate public hearing regarding the matter was held on August 19th, and a final hearing will occur on September 30th. A town vote will then be taken, and St. Paul’s fate will be decided.

Suddenly, as I was taking pictures, it dawned on me: maybe the reason Garden City is willing to demolish St. Paul’s is because they’ve got similarly amazing buildings strewn all over town! Maybe clocktowers and gothic spires and beautiful brick work are commonplace in Garden City, to the point where one building won’t be missed.

I decided to take a little tour on my bike in search of something – anything! – as grand and impressive as St. Paul’s. My first stop was obvious: the incredible Garden City Hotel:

Built in 1901, the Garden City Hotel was renowned as one of Long Island’s premier hotels, located in the center of a golf course and host to such families as the Vanderbilts and the Morgans.

Only, I was a little late getting there. It was torn down in 1973, and replaced with this thing in the 80’s.

[Note: if this is a four star hotel, as it’s website claims, it is by far the tackiest four star hotel I’ve ever been to.]

Oh well – one gone, but surely there was much more to see. I decided to move on to another historic Garden City location: Roosevelt Field.

A former military airfield and airport, Roosevelt Field served as the take-off point for one of the most famous flights in aviation history: Charle Lindbergh’s solo transatlantic flight in 1927. Here he is prior to departure in Garden City:

A number of other famous pilots, including Amelia Earhart, used the field at some point, and I was looking forward to seeing some sort of historic remnant from a property with such an historic past.

Except it was turned into a mall in the 1950’s.

OK, don’t get me wrong – I’m not expecting a decommissioned airfield to remain vacant for 60+ years. But at the very least, I was hoping for some sort of sign that the town had a respect for its history – maybe a sign or something to commemorate the events that occurred here. I biked around for about 10 minutes, but didn’t find anything. Apparently, I should have gone inside – a small plaque is located in front of the Disney Store.

I decided to continue my search into town.

After biking around town for a solid four hours, I must say that Garden City seems like a very pleasant place to live. For one thing, there’s an endless abundance of trees. Trees trees trees. It seems like every street in town has about 20 or 30 trees to its name, and it really is very pleasant.

It’s also one of those towns that has a lot of gazebos, though I didn’t see anyone actually sitting in one.

The main downtown area is also pleasant, with additional trees and a nice collection of shops and eateries.

I had a nice sandwich in the 7th Street Deli.

Another commercial area on the edge of town:

The town library:

A new apartment complex across the street from St. Paul’s:

I then ventured into Garden City’s residential areas, where you find houses like this…

…and this…

…and these…

…and this.

I think it’s fair to say that what you’ve seen above represents 99.99% of what Garden City consists of. It’s nice and pleasant and pretty, and you could tear down any one of the above structures, and as long as you put up a decent-enough replacement, no one would ever notice the difference.

Again: what you’ve seen above is 99.99% of Garden City.

Now let’s look at the other .01% of Garden City, the unique and historical gems that have managed to survive public shortsightedness and soulless developers.

These beautiful Victorian houses are known as the Apostles, and date back to the late 1800’s.

Garden City was originally founded as a planned community by millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart, who purchased land from Hempstead Plains. The Apostles were the first homes built, the oldest nine dating to 1872.

Thankfully, the demise of the Garden City Hotel was not totally in vain. Watching the wrecking ball slam into bricks, a small group of citizens vowed that such a tragedy would never happen again, and in 1975, the Garden City Historical Society was founded.

Over time, 54 Stewart-era homes have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A great example of stupidity:

Garden City is also home to the beautiful gothic Church of the Incarnation…

…which is covered with a dizzying number of spires and flying buttresses.

Also on the property is the stunning parish house:

There are a few other buildings of note around town, including several schools and the town’s post office. But with the possible exception of the church, I couldn’t find a single one to match the grandeur and beauty of St. Paul’s.

Since the town purchased St. Paul’s in 1993, its future has been a source of contention amongst Garden City residents, and the full history of debate is not worth recounting.

Still, as evidenced by the last poll in 2008, a majority of residents want it to be preserved in one form or another, and the ultimate vote for demolition must still be passed by a voter referendum.

Demolition itself is not cheap; it is estimated to cost nearly $6 Million to get rid of St. Paul’s once and for all. Meanwhile, the Committee to Save St. Paul’s has presented a plan that would preserve the exterior and parts of the interior for the same cost. However, annual upkeep would cost taxpayers approximately $200,000.

One resident was quoted in the Garden City News as saying, “While I realize that St. Paul’s is an iconic Stewart building, I feel that the history and character and intelligence of Garden City is not defined by any one structure…I believe…that there is a very large number of residents who are thoroughly sick of the ongoing situation and would like the saga of St. Paul’s to end.”

This maybe the case, but I really, really hope St. Paul’s isn’t demolished simply due to frustration. Preservation is always a battle, but it is a battle worth fighting. If for no better reason, simply look at the gym addition built onto St. Paul’s in 1962 as an example of what society has come to find acceptable in its standards for architecture:

This is the world we live in today.

When the magnificent Pennsylvania Station was torn down in New York City, the following was written in a NY Times editorial:

“Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves…We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tinhorn culture.

“And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed.”

If you feel strongly about the preservation of St. Paul’s, the public comment period is ongoing until September 30, and your voice could make a difference! Send an email to mayor@gardencityny.net with your comments. I’ll post information on the September 30th town meeting later in the month.

-SCOUT

PS – I wish I could have toured the inside, but it is currently off limits. Luckily, you can find a full look at the interior here.

Many more posts in the archives!

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Chicken Underwear

09/13/2010

Talk about a rigged election….

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Jennifer

09/13/2010

Why would anyone other than a developer or someone else who stands to profit off of St. Paul’s demolition want something like that to be destroyed? The things these people expect the public to believe! Incredible!!!

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cindyash

09/13/2010

Damn, I wish I lived there so I could fight it all with you. Hope this post works to put some fire under folks to save the place.

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Ryan

09/13/2010

Pretty sure a big plaque commemorating Lindbergh’s flight is inside the mall. Which makes sense – more people would likely see it that way than if it was in some random spot in the parking lot.

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Garik

09/13/2010

For evidence of the decommissioned airfield, you should have gone slightly Southeast, to Mitchell field. There’s still several airplane hangars standing, which have been converted into an IMAX theater and the Cradle of Aviation museum. There’s plenty of coverage of Roosevelt Field’s past there! 🙂

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desira pesta

09/13/2010

It’s so disgusting how often this happens. I only wish the idiots who favor new will see how ugly and cheapened our towns are getting. Thanks so much for this post.

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Ken

09/13/2010

It is a shame at all the greedy have destroyed in this country.

“Investors” are trying the same where I live but are having no luck getting demolition permits so they just let the buildings set and rot.

I wish I had the money to buy something like this. I would turn it into a small community of very nice condos. Or maybe even a set of shops and artists studios.

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Eddy Rhead

09/13/2010

I’m not sure how things work in the US but here in the UK we have a system called listing (i may be teaching my Grandmother to suck eggs here and apologise if i am telling you something you already know) where by buildings of architectural or historical interest are protected by government legislation. it doesnt always work but its the often the first step in getting a threatened building saved.
St Pauls, if in the UK, would almost certainly be listed. Do you not have a similar process in the US?

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1. Mark
  
  09/16/2010
  
  “Listing” here in the states– being listed as a National Historic Site”, does not protect the site. It does not pay the bills, and private owners still control the site’s fate.
  
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Erik

09/13/2010

Scout,

As someone noted above, there is a separate museum dedicated to early air flight about a mile from the mall. I haven’t been there since I was a kid, but I am pretty sure it is (or used to be) in an old hangar. Basically the air strip was on the property that is now the mall, but the support buildings were not, so although it’s a shame that the field itself is gone, it’s not too much of a historical fudge.

http://www.cradleofaviation.org/history/index.html

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david

09/13/2010

Please help save this place.. I wanted it to be condos from the second I hear the town was buying it.. PLEASE anyone.. Mr Trump?? Ritz Carlton? some on.. save it…

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kenju

09/13/2010

It will be a crying shame if that building is torn down. It would make a fantastic wedding and special event venue!

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Allie

09/13/2010

I emailed them – it is too pretty to be knocked down… In England, that building would be listed so it could never be demolished, just sensitively updated.

Allie (London, England)

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Peter

09/13/2010

There’s more to the story. Not long after acquiring St. Paul’s in the early 1990’s the village was all set to lease it to a private company for conversion into an assisted living facility. A citizen’s group filed a lawsuit to block the lease, claiming that St. Paul’s should be used solely for public purposes. The lawsuit dragged through the courts for many years and ultimately went in favor of the citizen’s group.

While it certainly would be better if St. Paul’s were a public facility, the point is that there are no apparent public purposes that would be sufficient to keep the main building in use and pay the bills. It would make a terrific wedding and special events venue, as a prior comment notes, however it’s unlikely the revenues would come close to covering upkeep costs.

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James K.

09/13/2010

Commenter Peter is right. It’s beautiful and all but serves no purpose beyond looking nice.

I live in Garden City and have to laugh at people who don’t (and apparently have a limited knowledge of the situation) crying about preserving St. Paul’s. There’s more in play here than “it’s such a beautiful building, corporations are evil, money is evil, blah blah blah!” Oh, and the reason you can’t get interior photos is because it’s structurally unsafe to be inside the building. I suppose you can blame the evil corporations and “soulless developers” for that too.

Love this site, got a lot of great ideas for road trips, but this post is lacking a lot of information and history about the situation. Disrespectful to the town and it’s residents.

“But at the very least, I was hoping for some sort of sign that the town had a respect for its history – maybe a sign or something to commemorate the events that occurred here. I biked around for about 10 minutes, but didn’t find anything.”

Or you could have done a quick Google search rather than the extensive “10 minute” bike ride, rather than slamming a town for having no “respect for its history”. Check out commenter Erik and Garik’s takes on the Lindbergh landmarks. And don’t write about stuff you don’t know about.

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1. Scout
  
  09/13/2010
  
  I never claimed that my 10 minute bike ride was extensive, and I’m about to update the post with the new info. But do you disagree with my ratio of quality to generic in the town? It’s not that generic modern upscale isn’t pleasant and a pretty, and boy are all your trees nice. And I’m sure you spend hours sitting all those gazebos reading.
  
  But do you get the difference between irreplaceable and unremarkable?
  
  I’m well aware of the full history of St. Paul’s, and I chose not to get into it because it has become so mired in town politics. Sometimes you have to step back and look at the bigger issues to get a clear answer.
  
  Reply
  1. James K.
    
    09/13/2010
    
    You completely changed the focus of my comment.
    
    “But do you disagree with my ratio of quality to generic in the town?”
    
    I couldn’t care less about your assessment of the architecture and homes in my town. Hence I didn’t comment on it. But if you think Garden City is unremarkable, you should check out basically every other town on Long Island. If GC is “unremarkable”, then every other town is “deplorable”.
    
    I care about my town getting fairly presented on this forum. And the original post failed to do that.
    
    “And I’m sure you spend hours sitting all those gazebos reading.”
    
    What? What does this have to do with anything? For the record, I spent many years working at the town pool (which is lovely, not sure if you visited) which has a gazebo, a gazebo I spent a lot of time in during my life. Maybe I wasn’t always reading, so I guess I fall short by your standards. And in my life I’ve gone to countless Christmas tree lightings, 9/11 vigils, band performances (often featuring myself as a performer), wedding photos and any other town events — all surrounding that gazebo. So in that vein, I’ll conclude the same way I ended my initial comment — don’t write about stuff you don’t know about (in this case, my life).
    
    Reply
    1. Scout
      
      09/13/2010
      
      To make it a bit more clear:
      
      “It’s beautiful and all but serves no purpose beyond looking nice.”
      
      You and I disagree. We’d have probably also disagreed when the option came around in the 1960’s to demolish the decaying Grand Central in favor of an office building.
      
      “I live in Garden City and have to laugh at people who don’t (and apparently have a limited knowledge of the situation) crying about preserving St. Paul’s.”
      
      I’ve read the full history of the St. Paul’s ongoing debate. If anything, I’ve avoided getting into the details because it highlights how little drive there is in town to make any sacrifices to save St. Paul’s – that’s right, sacrifices. Paying more in taxes, actively pursuing fundraisers, government grants, landmark protection ordinances so private developers could be sought, etc., with the understanding that you are working for a greater purpose for the town you love and call home.
      
      “There’s more in play here than “it’s such a beautiful building, corporations are evil, money is evil, blah blah blah!” Oh, and the reason you can’t get interior photos is because it’s structurally unsafe to be inside the building. I suppose you can blame the evil corporations and “soulless developers” for that too.”
      
      Of course there are serious financial concerns to contend with. The same has been true with every historical property that has ever been rehabilitated. It takes sacrifice. It also takes a very gung-ho spirit to persevere.
      
      “Love this site, got a lot of great ideas for road trips, but this post is lacking a lot of information and history about the situation. Disrespectful to the town and it’s residents.”
      
      I’ll respect your town when it respects itself and its history. What I see is a majority residents who are happy to look at St. Paul’s as an ornament on a Christmas tree and nothing more – yourself admittedly included.
      
      “I couldn’t care less about your assessment of the architecture and homes in my town.”
      
      Ha, well, as this is the whole point of Scouting NY, I’d advise you to stop reading.
      
      Reply
      1. James K.
        
        09/13/2010
        
        Then move to Garden City and take up the cause. If it means so much to you. Spearhead fundraising. Lead the charge to increase the already exorbitant property taxes paid by homeowners. Secure government grants.
        
        I suppose you don’t respect New York City for tearing down Grand Central then, huh?
        
        My biggest problem — there’s more nuance to the situation than you presented here. Don’t want to get into it all, because of town politics and all that? Fine — then don’t present the situation at all. Because the watered down one you’ve presented here is quite unfair. If you’re gonna broach the topic and give an opinion, at least be thorough. Your version here lets readers from London or wherever come in and cry “Save the whales!!!” over something they don’t have a clue about.
        
        (By the way, it doesn’t sound like it from my comments, but I’d love to see it preserved, if feasible. It’s a beautiful building. But I believe there are more important causes in my town than preserving old buildings which are uninhabitable. However, I won’t run down the list of causes/groups I’m involved with in my town because no one cares.)
Tom

09/13/2010

The property that surrounds St Paul’s has countless athletic fields that are used by Garden City. You drive by on and Saturday or Sunday during the year, and there are over a dozen games going on for the local kids: soccer, lacrosse, football, baseball. I imagine demolition would also put an end (or at least a temporary halt) to the kids using the fields. Just another reason why the demolition plan is stupid.

One more thing – there are LOTS of homes like the Victorian ones whose pictures you put up. You should have rode around some more. Living in the area, when I think of homes in Garden City, they are the ones I think of first.

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1. Scout
  
  09/13/2010
  
  Hi Tom –
  
  I didn’t post pictures of all the Victorians I saw, just like I didn’t post a picture of every other house I saw. But having ridden on nearly every street in the town limits, I can tell you without a doubt that for every beautiful Victorian, there are about 20-30 modern upscale generic homes.
  
  What’s very telling about this is that when you think of Garden City, you don’t think about the modern construction. You think of the historical gems, even though they’re in the vast minority.
  
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Abby

09/13/2010

James K., what do you propose take its place since it “serves no purpose beyond looking nice”?

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Peter

09/13/2010

I’m far from an expert on building renovations and don’t know the interior layout. Even so, my reasoned guess is that converting St. Paul’s to apartments or condominiums would require an almost complete alteration of the interior. For one thing, every apartment or condominium unit has to have its own bathroom and kitchen, and almost certainly the building isn’t set up that way at all. Conversion into a hotel or health care facility might require something less in terms of interior work.

Any of these uses ideally would allow for the exterior to remain reasonably intact. The downside is that St. Paul’s would become privately owned with little or no public access to the inside, except perhaps in the case of a hotel. One could argue that there’d be nothing worth seeing about the off-limits interior in the case of an apartment or condominium conversion. But would that satisfy the preservationists?

Try as I might, I cannot think of any public use that would be remotely cost-effective. If St. Paul’s were smaller it might be suitable for conversion into municipal offices, but it’s much too large for that use.

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1. Scout
  
  09/13/2010
  
  While I’d love a public use option, I’m not opposed to private ownership. I know many are.
  
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Mike

09/13/2010

As mentioned, the history behind St. Paul’s is long and thorny. The truth is that the Village (through referendum, etc.) has allowed the building to rot beyond repair. Nobody is allowed in the building due to the crumbling structure and the asbestos. It’s a mess. As a village resident, I am torn–my children play on those fields and it would be nice to preserve the building for public use. Mothballing or demolition is extremely expensive. That being said, the previous private option on the table would take away from public use–and once it’s in the hands of a developer, even though the promise was to save the facade, we all know what would happen when it was deemed structurally and financially impossible–the facade would go. I haven’t voted yet, and it would be sad to see it go. But the divisiveness it has caused in town has to end.

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1. Scout
  
  09/13/2010
  
  I get that, and as your mayor has said, it’s time to make a decision once and for all, and go with it.
  
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nichole

09/13/2010

Regardless of the particular politics surrounding this particular building, I can’t bear to think of that building meeting a wrecking ball.

I spend a lot of time in Paris, and I will never, ever tire of the stunning architecture, especially Gothic.

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geaj

09/13/2010

Scout,
It’s funny that as I sat here reading this post, I began watching The Fountainhead, starring Gary Cooper and Patricia Neal, whose tagline reads, “a study of a brilliant architect who allows no compromise in his work.” Seems to go along perfectly with this whole discussion. Keep up the good work and stay true to your own ideas and opinions! That’s what makes this site so great!
geaj

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