Something I see travelling on the LIRR (New York, Freeport: real estate, condos)

[LIMAMA4]

What is that castle or church looking ruins along the north side of the LIRR tracks between the Baldwin train station and the Freeport train station?

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by LIMAMA4

What is that castle or church looking ruins along the north side of the LIRR tracks between the Baldwin train station and the Freeport train station?

It was once an enormous pumping house for the Brooklyn Water Works system, which provided the City of Brooklyn (and later NYC) with fresh drinking water from the reservoirs along Sunrise Highway. All of the lakes and preserves along Sunrise from Valley Stream to Massapequa are actually man made reservoirs carved out in the late 19th century. There is a gigantic pipeline underneath the highway that pushed this water west towards an enormous reservoir in Ridgewood, Queens near the Jackie Robinson Parkway and Cypress Hills Cemetery. There are other pumping stations along the way, albeit much smaller ones, but the Milburn Station (on the border of Baldwin and Freeport) did most of the heavy lifting.

After Brooklyn became a part of the City of New York, it eventually got access to NYC's upstate reservoirs and the need for the system was scaled back. It stayed online as a backup until 1977, though. In the 80s, it was sold to a private developer (the same guy who restored Oheka Castle in West Hills) and construction began on turning the old building into luxury condos. Unfortunately, halfway through the project, the first of several fires were set and the building was seriously damaged. Ever since then it's sat there rotting, I have no idea what is going on with it. I believe it's been very hard to tear down since the building is landmarked.

Here it is in it's early days:

[LIMAMA4]

That about answers my question. LI history always interested me. I wonder who owns the property now. I was looking at a Google satellite image of the area and the piece of real estate that that building sits on is huge.

[nancy thereader]

Thanks sean 4 . I always wondered what that was. I would pass that everyday on my way to work . It really should either be repaired or torn down, though. It's like Pilgrim State. Spooky.

[sean sean sean sean]

I'm pretty certain it is still privately owned, the property behind it is the Brookside Preserve which is owned by Nassau County. The Milburn Creek which runs through there is the divider between Baldwin and the Village of Freeport. I'm not sure if Gary Melius (of Oheka Castle fame) still owns it or not, if he does I would imagine he still wishes to restore it but the building is really trashed at this point...really partially demolished already. It's a popular graffiti spot nowadays. If it were to be turned into condos at this point, I dunno how well they'd do being located right next to LIRR tracks and considering that Freeport is not nearly as desirable a location to live as it was even in the late 80s....very unfortunate because they were so close to being re-using it.

[nancy thereader]

I can not imagine that it would be viable to turn that into anything. It is just too damaged.

[LocalX]

I always heard a rumor that in had a 300ft well.

[Andysocks]

I'd miss it if it was torn down. It's one of the few things to point out the window to when traveling with someone unfamiliar with LI, haha. That, and the billboard with the biblical quote about all who pass by etc etc are like the two interesting things along the route.

[Parliament]

My daughter calls it Cinderella's Old Castle. Her new one is in DisneyWorld.

[I_Love_LI_but]

I heard a rumor that Blue Oyster Cult played an unscheduled/unadvertised/free concert in there once.