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Residents urge Bayville to act quickly to preserve former Naval Hospital mansion owned by United Cerebral Palsy
Summary
Multiple residents urged the Board of Trustees during public comment to negotiate with United Cerebral Palsy and preservation groups to save the large historic mansion, suggesting landmarking or adaptive reuse before it is sold.
Residents urged the Bayville Board of Trustees during the meetings public-comment period to engage now with United Cerebral Palsy and preservation organizations to save a large historic mansion formerly part of a Naval Hospital campus that is reportedly listed for sale.
Bill Dwyer (High Park Avenue) told trustees the property has strong community interest and warned that waiting until after a sale would make preservation harder. "The mansion is in pretty terrible shape," Dwyer said, and he described interior alterations and added wings. He urged the village to be "proactive" and to work with preservation groups and the seller to pursue options that could save the building.
Speakers suggested several paths: cooperative negotiations with the nonprofit seller, landmark designation for exterior protection, solicitation of nonprofit or private buyers willing to restore the structure, or adaptive reuse tied to limited subdivision of the site. One speaker said the seller would need roughly $10,000,000 to renovate the building and voiced skepticism that simple lot-cutting alone would raise sufficient funds.
Trustees and other residents discussed the limits of local authority: landmark ordinances generally protect exteriors and often rely on owner consent; in some villages designation can be imposed but can raise compensation issues and legal complexity. Commenters cited examples from other Long Island communities where partial demolition and subdivision were combined with preservation of an exterior or conversion into townhomes.
Why this matters: community members described the mansion as the last of the local Gold Coast-era houses on that stretch and said early village involvement could increase the chance of a preservation outcome. The board did not take formal action during the meeting, but multiple residents asked the village to begin conversations with the owner and preservation organizations while the property remains on the market or under consideration for sale.
