Huntington African American Museum update: Plans inch forward with an eye on Huntington Station

Plans for the proposed Huntington African American Museum are moving forward despite museum officials having to relocate it and submit a new plan for town approval, the museum’s board chair said.

Barry Lites, chair of the board of directors for the museum, said last month the museum was planning to relocate to Fair Meadow Park in Huntington Station after the state declined to remove parkland protections for a town-owned plot in Halesite, where the museum was originally supposed to be.

Since then, the state has removed parkland protections from Fair Meadow Park. And earlier this month, town officials approved the creation of a liaison team between the town and the museum amid some public opposition to the relocation plan. 

Town and museum officials had reached a 99-year license agreement in 2023 to allow the 1½-acre parcel in Halesite to be used for the facility, contingent on approval from the state. Lites said he’s feeling positive about reaching a similar agreement with the town, especially since the state has now removed the parkland protections for Fair Meadow Park.

“I hope to dust off that agreement, and once we agree on the footprint ... we can describe what we want in the agreement; we can sign it,” he said.

An eye on parkland preservation

Town Supervisor Ed Smyth said things are progressing, but the museum is still in its early planning stages.

“The town has not conveyed anything; we have not conveyed any part of the park to anyone,” he said.

Smyth said there will be public hearings on the museum plan once the town sees the museum’s proposal.

“We’re just at the start of the conversation; nothing's been finalized,” he said.

He noted a license agreement would be for only the footprint of the building and immediate surrounding areas. He said the remaining acreage would likely be rededicated as parkland. 

Lites said 75% of the 9.77-acre site will remain parkland.

The previous cost estimate for the museum at the Halesite location was $60 million.

The town board voted at its July 14 meeting to create an implementation advisory team to act as a liaison between the town and the museum.  According to the resolution, the team is charged with “community engagement, stakeholder coordination, historical interpretation and project implementation.”

The advisory team includes Lites, former town board member Tracey A. Edwards,  Town Historian Robert Hughes, town director of Human Services Kevin Thorbourne, and Mark McAteer, chair of the town’s Environmental Open Space & Park Fund advisory committee.

The town did not respond to a request for comment on whether members of the public would be added to the team.

Suffolk Legis. Rebecca Sanin, whose district includes Fair Meadow Park, declined to comment on the museum proposal.

Resistance from some

Fair Meadow Park is at the intersection of Pulaski Road and Park Avenue. Across Park Avenue, on the northeast corner, McDonald’s is proposing to build a drive-thru restaurant amid strong opposition from residents.

Some of those who are fighting the proposed McDonald’s spoke out against the museum relocation plan at the July 14 meeting. They said the park is one of the area’s last remaining green spaces and shouldn't be transformed into what they described as a construction zone with added parking lots.

They also contend residents were not given adequate, or any, notice about the planned relocation. 

Laura DeMaio, who has lived in the community next to Fair Meadow Park for the past 16 years and attended the meeting, said last week she doesn’t want anything built in the park.

“We as a community, and myself personally, are against there being something built in an area that was deeded as parkland; it was not meant to have anything built on it,” she said.

DeMaio also criticized town officials for not being more transparent about plans for the park.

“The thing that is even more disturbing is that there’s been no discussion of it, no one was made aware of it before it happened,” she said. 

Edwards said she was surprised at the “level of racism” of some opponents on social media who said the Huntington museum should be located in Wyandanch — a majority-minority community — and comments made at the board meeting that were dismissive of African American history. She also cited a flyer circulating that said, “Leave a legacy, not a concrete jungle.”

“Two things can be true at once: We can share our history on two acres and preserve a passive open space with the remaining seven,” Edwards said.

“We in Huntington celebrate inclusion and we are fortunate that we have key African American historical figures that either were born, lived or worked in Huntington, and we should celebrate those historical Black figures,” she said.