Town of North Hempstead Designates the Old Courthouse Road Motor Parkway Bridge as a Town Landmark
The Town Board of North Hempstead voted unanimously last night to designate the Old Courthouse Road Motor Parkway Bridge as the 18th town landmark. It is the first official historic landmarking for the Motor Parkway in Nassau County.
On behalf of the Historic Landmarks Preservation Commission, town historian Howard Kroplick made the case for landmarking one of only two remaining Motor Parkway bridges in Nassau County and the sole remaining one in North Hempstead:
"The Commission determined that the bridge met the definition of “Historic landmark” by its association with the historic growth and development of the Town and Long Island by its association with the development of the Long Island Motor Parkway, the first road built exclusively for automotive transportation on Long Island."
Several members of the Long Island Motor Parkway PreservationSociety (Greg O., Dee, Steve, Rosemary, Art and Ted) were in attendance, providing valuable support for the landmarking.
A big thank you to Supervisor Judi Bosworth and the Town Board of North Hempstead for their support in helping to preserve this historic site.
Enjoy,
Howard Kroplick
Howard Kroplick addressing the Town Board
The North Hempstead Town Board
The audience listening to the case for landmarking
From left to right: Greg, Dee, Steve and Rosemary (Photo taken by Art Kleiner).
Steve Lucas advocating for the bridge.
Howard Kroplick and Councilman Peter Zuckerman .
Old Courthouse Road Motor Parkway Bridge
Circa 1920s. The Old Courthouse Road Bridge can be seen in the background "looking west to Great Neck."
Circa 1972. Courtesy of Marget and George Vitale from slides by Lester Cutting.
Comments
That is great news Howard about The Old Courthouse Road Bridge that the North Hempstead Town Board declared it an historic Land Mark.
Another step in the right direction, now for the cleanup. Can the path be used for bikes and hiking afterwards ?
Congrats Howard and anyone else who was involved. Great work. This truly is a landmark. The Bethpage Bridge should be next!
Important Question: is the town now obligated/required to maintain the bridge in any way?
Structurally it’s in very good shape considering it’s age and it’s wonderful that it’s off the beaten path and nobody really disturbs it but….
There is a ton of graffiti in there currently and I know it’s a hangout spot for teenagers to drink and do whatever else they do!
It really is wet down there. Almost wetland status! The apartments and some houses there have gutters that empty right into the road there. I’m told there has been water issues there for years, apparently LILCO did something with a well? The man who lives next to the bridge was telling me about it.
And is there a way to draw some good attention to it? It really is not in a spot that anyone would know about or go to. Is there any intent to put any sort of signage perhaps on the Northern State? New Hyde Park Rd? To direct someone to the landmark? Similar to what we see on parkway exits now?
Fantastic accomplishment! Thanks, Howard, et al! Sam, III