Comments

BKW, the soap dispensers were on the ceiling in the previous photo. ;-)

Ah thanks, got it fixed!

You're a hoot John! Thanks, I really needed a laugh.

Thanks for the update Charlie! Always sad to see historic buildings fall, but at least the iconic Sunburst Building has been spared.

Pat,

Good to hear from you & the update on the old girl, at least she stands for another summer. I hope all is well with you, take care.

greetings motts, and lovers of old Halcyon. Not much new, Halcyon Hall
is still standing despite slowly collapsing on it's own. It seems there have been developments that have resulted in an [obvious] delay in the
[eventually inevitable] demolition of HH.

It is a very complicated situation. While practically all of the original impediments to it's demise have been 'taken care of', there are
delays due to economics and the 'deal's' complexity. I'd hazard a guess
that it relates to the plans for the site AFTER Halcyon's demo, rather
than just the seemingly more simple issue of 'when do we knock the
thing down." I still believe the plans for a post Halcyon park are the
best possible outcome, and there is ALOT of details to be addressed,
most of which are much larger than the fate of the campus. This
will involve the entire community.

I'd also guess that principals would rather have that all solidly in the
pipeline, as a light at the end of a very dark tunnel of noise, debris, and disruption that demolition will entail. Just knocking it down and saying we'll take of all that LATER will definetly exacerbate a lot of the
inevitable issues that neighboring parcels will endure. Many of them
are likely not even known yet, but anticipated nevertheless.


In short, delays in progress mean it will still be around! Probably for awhile. To the delight of ruin lovers worldwide!


Another point is that the Thorne organization does not technically own
the property. It's disposition is being administered by The Tribute
Garden Foundation, the philanthropic organization from about 1918
that created Millbrook's public park and garden, the Village green,
and the Monument at Bennet College's southwest entrance that is now
a road marker. The fact that the Thorne's DID pay off the decades long tax bill on Bennett to allow a new park to go forward, without actually owning the parcel, to me demonstrates an even more generous donation to the solution there. It would be wise of everyone interested to perhaps not now express too much impatience with the slow pace of events, or at least not lay that impatience at the door of the entitie[s]
who HAVE made ANY recent progress there possible AT ALL. So far,
anyway. It would be prudent to remember that the obliteratively sprawling ocean of condominiums that WOULD BE HERE RIGHT NOW,
were prevented largely by the Thorne's testimony as part of the public process. Their involvement of the community in doing so was not confined to just having persuaded his fellow citizens and neighbors of
that development's inappropriateness. Their retention of consultants and experts on behalf of Millbrook was not a gesture that became
somehow reimbursed, nor I'm sure are the likely even MORE expensive
plans for a future Halcyon Park. So the Thorne's contribution is
extraordinary, singular, and integral to whatever HAS happened so far here, and what will follow. My own personal opinion is that if a boatload of money has been spent here yet again, it is at least towards
a resolution this time around, and a larger level of patience is required for a satisfactory resolution. I believe it will happen eventually.


Something people may not always factor into these situations, is the current changes in our nation's tax policies. The current regime's
retrograde raid on tax revenue, felt most acutely by the screwing homeowners got shafted with by the nixing of the home mortgage deduction, also includes signifigant elimination of the tax deduction for charitable contributions. This has already begun to freakin DECIMATE charitable contributions in this country. This is going to be an unprecedented financial blow to HOSPITALS. SCHOOLS. Children's charities. Hunger. Homelessness. Poverty. Etc. ad depressum.

The point for the purposes of Halcyon etc. is that projects like this,
that are a public/ private/ non profit partnership, are going to be
pushed a bit further down the ladder, compared to the now
wildly further strained charitable-dependent concerns cited above.


I'd love for one of the cheerleaders of this tax raid to convince me that all that revenue will now be spent on Infrastructure [projects like a stabilization of Halcyon's stonework for a public park for example] but
I believe I won't hold my breath. Forgive my veer into the quasi-political.


They say money talks. Sometimes it swears.


Halcyon Hall stands another summer. Up close you can literally hear it creak and groan, standing up simply out of habit. It's cladding now
slowly torn, one can actually see now the tough old bones of its
structure. If it could tell it's own story, of everything IT has seen since 1892, what a tale THAT would be to hear...

Cheers and well wishers to Halcyoneers all!

I am picturing the missing heads mounted on someone's wall above the fireplace.

Sigh...Google earth (updated in 2018) still shows it lonely and lying on its side in an empty field with no buildings around.

Ahhh, here's the wallpaper. Thanks so much!

WOW,
oh yes, wallpaper, please???

HA, I would have done the same thing. :-)

'W' for wow! I was excited as soon as I saw this location pop up. Whoohoo

Thanks, Motts

These photographs are both beautiful and haunting, my compliments to the photographer. You have captured something that will never be seen again. I work nearby in Central Islip and can tell you that as of this message (June 2019) a massive building project is underway. The entire Sunburst complex is being renovated for what I believe will be office space. When I saw the construction fencing going up, I thought demolition for sure. But, following that, the interiors were gutted, the slate rooftops were fixed, and new windows were installed. Several adjoining multi story former hospital buildings are also being renovated, while others were demolished to make way for a condo complex.