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It has been more than ten years since the Kings Park
Psychiatric Center closed its doors and the outcome of
this property is still up in the air. The following is a
history of this property-
1885: An asylum
owned by Kings County opens to treat the mentally ill.
1895: It becomes
state-owned.
1954: Center's
population reaches about 9,300 patients and staff, but
new therapies result in declining population through
early 1990s.
1996: Center
closes; small number of patients and staff remain on
site.
1999: Governor
Pataki carves out 153 acres to become Nissequogue River
State Park.
March 2000: The
State puts property up for sale. Officials say
cleanup could cost $50-$60 million.
May 2003: Lamb
Acquisitions LLC wins bid to buy property for $7.5
million for mixed-use development.
June 2004: Lamb
pulls out. Erickson Retirement Community wins bid
for $7.12 million with plans for 1,500 senior housing
units.
October 2004:
Erickson pulls out.
December. 2004:
Cherokee Arker signs $6.5 million agreement to purchase
land to build up to 1,800 housing units.
January 2006:
After much community opposition, The State's Empire
State Development Corp. pulls out of the deal with
Cherokee Arker, which files suit a month later. The
lower court upholds the State's actions, and this
decision is presently on appeal.
April 2006: State
Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) secures $25
million for cleanup.
December 2006:
The State agrees to transfer the property to the State
Parks Department, adding 368 acres to Nissequogue River
State Park. This not only protects the environment,
protects the community from high density housing, but
also saves the nearly one million dollars the State pays
to the Kings Park School District.
January 2007:
The Spitzer Administration questions the creation of
parkland and has yet to commit to this newly created
park.
November
2010: A study was completed by Dvirka and
Bartilucci, Consulting Engineers (D&B) at a cost of $3.6
million. It was determined that the cost of
remediating the environmental concerns on the 368 acres
would be $215 million. This amount included the
cost to; remove asbestos and other hazardous materials;
to demolish the existing fifty-seven (57) buildings; the
remediating of asbestos and demolishing the five (5)
miles of underground tunnels that criss-cross the
property; the cleanup of thirty-eight (38) debris piles
containing waste material dumped on the surface or
buried before the property was transferred to the Office
of Parks and Recreation and Historic Preservation
(OPRHP.)
The next step in the process has yet to be determined
mainly due to the new administration recently elected
into office.
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