Great Neck Historical Society President Alice Kasten knows what it means when a fence suddenly appears around an older local building.
“You see these fences going up and the bulldozers going in and one of the horrors goes up in its place and our heritage is being lost,” Kasten said. “We hope that people would be proud of the buildings in which they are living and the buildings that make this the community that it is.”
As part of her organization’s new Heritage Recognition Program, Kasten said the Great Neck Historical Society hopes to prevent historic buildings from being torn down and to honor their architectural, historical or cultural significance with a plaque.
“This is not a unique program,” Kasten said. “A lot of historic societies recognize the interesting buildings, the honored buildings, of their communities and we wanted to do the same.”
But, Kasten said the program was a necessary one to protect against a “distressing” local trend in which older buildings are being demolished despite any historic value.
Under the program, residents can petition the Great Neck Historical Society to determine if their home or business dwelling qualifies as a historically significant structure. If it does, one of two plaques can be purchased from the organization to celebrate the building’s local heritage.
The historic value of the site will be determined by the historical society based upon several criteria, Kasten said.
A building can be granted a plaque based upon its architectural design or if it is modeled after a particular style or engineering method.
If the building has a specific cultural, political, economic or social history it can be honored, while dwellings associated with famous people are also eligible to receive a plaque.
The final way a building can be recognized is if it is “representative of growth and development in the community,” a Heritage Recognition Program flyer said.
“There are many homes that deserve recognition,” Kasten said. “They’re unique in some way. They’re older homes. They’re historic in some way. Let’s not knock them down. Let’s glorify these houses.”
The first building, which will receive a Heritage Recognition Plaque is the Great Neck Park District’s Great Neck House.
“The park district has applied and of course we accepted them for recognition,” Kasten said. “(Their plaque) will be presented shortly with fanfare.”
Kasten said she expects more buildings to be honored soon.
“We’re hoping that these plaques will crop up, that they will begin to sprout as news gets out of this program,” Kasten said. “You’ll see more and more of them in the community.”
Residents can purchase one of two plaques based upon size. The large recognition plaque costs $175, while the medium plague costs $125.
The oval plaques have a dark green background with etched bronze gold-tone metal. Along with their plaque, residents will also receive a recognition certificate and their dwelling’s history will be recounted on the historical society’s Web site.
There are no designations for where plaques can be placed, but Kasten said the historical society suggests they be mounted on a surface that is visible from the road nearest to the front of the structure.
“We would really like people to be proud of the homes in the community,” Kasten said.
Applications for the Great Neck Historical Society’s Heritage Recognition Program can be downloaded at the organization’s Web site at www.greatneckhistorical.org.
Reach reporter John Santa by e-mail at jsanta@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x203
