Centuries-old grist mill in Roslyn gets a much-needed lift

Roslyn celebrated the symbolic — and literal — lift of a 300-year-old structure on Thursday, a move that was hailed by officials and preservationists as a major step toward restoring the historic structure and reviving local history. 

“What a great day this is to celebrate the raising of the grist mill,” North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth said at a news conference. “I can’t think of anything better [or] more important in terms of not only preserving history but making it real.”

The Roslyn Grist Mill, a rare surviving Dutch-framed water mill, was raised by 8 feet on Thursday so that crew members of Vermont-based Cole Engineering & Construction could put in a new watertight foundation. The structure will be lowered in the fall by 4 feet to street level after workers finish laying down the foundation and restoring the timber frames for the building.

Local officials and preservationists for decades have pushed for the mill’s restoration, but the project was repeatedly delayed because of a lack of funding.

“We were able to get some funding in place [in 2009]. And of course, the Great Recession hit and everything kind of came to a halt,” said North Hempstead Town Clerk Wayne Wink, who was then a county legislator for the 11th District, which covers Roslyn. “So really this moved forward by inches, not by leaps and bounds.”

The long-overdue project began in late 2018, and more than $3 million has been raised to cover the repair cost, including grants from New York State and Nassau County and donations from private foundations and residents.

“It's only because of people's passion and their love for the history of this place that we all get to enjoy it,” Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) said.

For those who have lived in Roslyn, watching the building being lifted stirred up memories of the past.

Anne Tinder, former director of the Roslyn Landmark Society, remembered the days when her mother, Audrey Bird, took her to the site, which was then a popular tea house that closed in 1974.

“We would look at the harbor and there were boats out there. … It was just very relaxing, elegant and old-fashioned,” Tinder recalled Thursday morning as workers slowly raised the structure.

In its former lives as a working mill, an eatery and a tourist attraction, the three-story building is one of few Dutch industrial buildings that remain standing on Long Island and likely the first major commercial structure in the Village of Roslyn, preservationists said.

“It's one of the most significant buildings on Long Island,” said Howard Kroplick, president of the Roslyn Landmark Society, who’s in charge of the restoration efforts. “So it's uplifting that we are finally getting to the point where we're actually doing something and restoring it.” 

Before the site can be turned into an educational center as the society intends to, Kroplick said more work and money is needed. Further restoration will likely cost an additional $1.5 million and at least two more years.

But when that day comes, one of the exhibits that will be presented at the center will include the fact that the country’s first president saw the structure when he visited the mill’s owner, Hendrick Onderdonk.

“George Washington wrote admiringly in his journal about this structure,” Nassau County Executive Laura Curran said. “In our very fast-paced world [where] everyone's rushing around and looking at their phones and sort of disconnected from the past, this is a real tangible connection to the past.”