With museum renovation, what's old still is, but newness abounds in 1911 building

A museum dedicated to the history of Babylon Village that has been renovated and reimagined will have a grand reopening Saturday after being shuttered for nearly three years.

The building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, dates to 1911 and was initially a library before being used for government office space, said Babylon Town historian Mary Cascone. A year after the Babylon Village Historical and Preservation Society was formed in 1974, the Babylon Historical Society Museum opened.

Over the years the society amassed a hodgepodge collection of artifacts that were displayed throughout the museum without order.

“It looked like an antique shop,” said Wayne Horsley, a former Suffolk County legislator and vice president of the society. “There were interesting things here and there, but not something you would necessarily come back to.”

In January 2020, trustees decided to close the museum and, in addition to a building renovation, start a museum redesign to tell the story of the village, which was incorporated in 1893.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“We decided to just keep going,” said Judy Skillen, the society’s president. “The pandemic was terrible, but it was also kind of a gift of time to be able to do this.”

Donning masks and practicing social distancing, trustees and members painstakingly went through the society’s entire collection, researching and cataloging each piece.

“We’re going to continue to go through the collections and seek out information so that we have a well-rounded representation,” said Cascone, who is also a society trustee.

The museum now has themed displays that highlight aspects of village history, such as its former hotels, the Great South Bay and the South Side Railroad, which became part of the Long Island Rail Road. One of the museum’s centerpieces is a printing press believed to be from the South Side Signal, a weekly newspaper published from 1869 to 1920. Exhibits will change throughout the year, Skillen said.

Using about $400,000 in grants and donations, the society re-created wooden pocket doors, painted and did other work to restore many of the building’s original features. The 2,500-square-foot building also was made ADA-compliant.

Many society members volunteered their skills to help with the renovation, while others were hired from local companies.

“I wanted as many people as possible in this community to be vested in this museum,” Skillen said.

Resident Shawn Uttendorfer, 46, said he devoted more than 60 hours to meticulously stencil and restore the gold leaf to a glass sign from a Babylon hotel.

“To have a piece that I was able to help restore and continue the legacy was really important to me,” Uttendorfer said.

A vault where artifacts began taking on mildew now has a climatization system for archival storage. A wall that had sealed off the main room has been reopened and an electronic drop-down movie screen has been installed. The new space will become a community center, allowing the museum to hold events and bring in authors and other speakers, trustees said.

“I’m so proud of what we’ve done to tell the history of Babylon,” Skillen said. “This is our gift to the village.”

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.