Floral Park to unveil historic diorama

The Floral Park Historical Society will unveil a diorama, “Floral Park Circa 1900: Home of Flowers,” during a ceremony on Sunday, May 22.

For the first time, the public will see the hand-crafted, three-dimensional miniature scene of Floral Park at a time when the seed business of the founder of the village, John Lewis Childs, was flourishing and a small community on the Hempstead Plains was blossoming.

“In leading the project, it was important for me to have reference materials such as photos, postcards, documents and other materials to make the miniature scene of Floral Park as accurate as possible,” said project director Walter Gosden, who is also the village historian and a retired art teacher.

The diorama project was funded with a portion of a $10,000 grant from Nassau County to the historical society in 2010.

The unveiling ceremony will follow a short program at 1:30 p.m. at the Floral Park Recreation and Pool Complex on Pool and Garage Road. Admission is free.

“As a former mayor, I see the diorama as a very special gift to the residents, especially the young people of Floral Park,” said Ann Corbett, president of the historical society.