Snouder's preservation plan almost ready

Six months after Snouder's Corner Drug Store closed, few Oyster Bay stakeholders can say they have much detail on a plan to restore and repurpose the historic building.

A nonprofit foundation was formed for its preservation, but after announcing in December that it needed $3 million to reach its goal, updates were scarce. Now, as officials began to question progress, the group has re-emerged.

Ray Eaton, who runs Snouder's Corner Drug Store Foundation, said last week an architectural preservation plan is almost ready for unveiling. It will start a capital campaign to purchase and transform the South Street structure into a community space that reflects the building's history.

"I think people are going to be blown away," Eaton said of the plans, drawn by Glen Cove's Smiros & Smiros firm and aided by a National Park Service historical architect. "We want to keep the focus on the community."

The three-story building -- with an original Queen Anne tower -- would incorporate artifacts dating to Snouder's 1884 opening. When the store closed last December, it was Oyster Bay's oldest continuously operated business, and everyone seemed to have stories of its soda-fountain heyday.

Building owners Eugene King and Frank Genovese, who last ran the pharmacy, blessed Eaton's plans. They have not offered the building for sale.

But skepticism remains. Oyster Bay Historical Society director Phil Blocklyn commended honoring the building's history, but prefers a different use.

"It's a retail space right in the center of the retail district," he said. "I would like to see it, if possible, remain a viable commercial entity."

Town Supervisor John Venditto hasn't met with Eaton, but offered his assistance trying to find the foundation grant money, either through a formal historical designation or otherwise.

"This is not typically how situations like this are dealt with," Venditto said of not hearing from the foundation. "But if we get the right result, I guess it doesn't matter."

Recent months, Eaton said, were spent formalizing the foundation's nonprofit status, cataloging drugstore artifacts and learning more about the building, which was remodeled several times but retains original 1779 substructures.

"The actual support we've received has been quite overwhelming," he said.

Fundraising "will probably be slow," he acknowledged in declining to set a timeline for reaching his goal. "But we don't anticipate not meeting it." He declined to say exactly how much has been raised.

One area stakeholder who has provided Eaton guidance in his preservation efforts wished him the best. "It's a fascinating building, and obviously our interest is seeing it historically preserved and go back to productive use," said Thomas Ross, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site superintendent. "But ultimately, it's private property and the owners have the discretion."

Snouder's: A brief history

Opened in 1884, in a building dating to the late 1700s

Hosted Oyster Bay's first telephone, which Theodore Roosevelt used to take calls

In the early 20th century, its soda fountain became a community gathering place

Closed last December, at which time it was the hamlet's oldest continuously operating business