Heron sculpture set for Farmingville site

Jim Miller's heron sculptures are now almost everywhere -- at the eight Miller Environmental offices throughout the Northeast, including the one in Calverton; at his son Jim Jr.'s marine operation in Port Jefferson, and at son Glen's marine launch service on Staten Island.

And now, there will be a heron sculpture on the lawn of the former Teachers Federal Credit Union building in Farmingville, which Miller and his business partner, Paul Elliott of Ocean 11 Realty Llc, just purchased for $4.6 million, and plan to turn into office condominiums.

What's with the herons?

It all began in the early 1990s, when Port Jefferson Pontiac-Buick auto dealer John McNamara's empire collapsed in a Ponzi scheme. McNamara had a heron sculpture at his dealership, and the Newport, R.I., artist who made it, Roberto Julio Bessin, appealed to his friend Miller to save the 40-foot, two-ton sculpture from the bankruptcy. Miller took it and placed it in a shipyard in Greenport. "That was the beginning of the story of how I fell in love with the stupid heron," Miller said.

He later moved the heron to his backyard in Southhold. Neighbors called it an eyesore. They complained to the town board. There were hearings, a court case. Miller finally won permits to keep it on his property. Then, Greenport residents said they wanted some kind of statue in the village. Miller commissioned Bessin to build them an osprey for a 9/11 memorial.

"We've had an ongoing relationship with this artist," Miller said of Bessin. The heron to stand in front of the Farmingville building "is just a beautiful piece of artwork."

Elliott said half the five-story building is already taken, with TFCU occupying the first floor. Its headquarters are now in Hauppauge. The name of the Farmingville building? That was easy: the Heron Professional Center.