Four Sacred Sites on Long Island Win Thousands in Restoration Grants

Four sacred historic sites on Long Island have won a total of nearly $50,000 in grants to repair, restore and preserve churches that are more than a century old, officials said.

The grants were awarded to communities in Bay Shore, Amityville, Bellport and Huntington by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, a private nonprofit organization. They were among 16 grants totaling $321,000 awarded to 15 historic religious sites in the state.

The Long Island sites are Bay Shore United Methodist Church, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Amityville, Bellport United Methodist Church and Ketewamoke DAR Hall in Huntington, which was formerly the First Universalist Church.

The Bay Shore church will receive $16,000 to restore the tower, and the Amityville church will receive $15,000 to replace cedar shingles throughout the complex. The Bellport church will receive $14,000 to restore the spire, as well as project management costs.

Ketewamoke DAR Hall in Huntington will receive $4,000 to help pay for masonry replacement, as well as foundation, roof drainage and carpentry repairs.

Some of the conservation’s funding comes from the Robert David Lyon Gardiner Foundation, the group said.

“Our grants support the preservation of these iconic buildings that are important pillars for their members and their communities,” Peg Breen, president of the conservancy, said in a statement. “These 15 communities reach nearly 140,000 people in their communities with programs that address food insecurity, addiction and social exclusion, while also hosting important arts and cultural events.”

Houses of worship must complete a grant application.

Bay Shore United Methodist Church includes “an 1893 temporary Romanesque Revival church and a Queen Anne style church with an auditorium layout,” the conservancy said. The church helps about 3,000 people in addition to its regular members through activities such as a weekly soup kitchen, two AA and NA groups, a Head Start program, a thrift store and Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, the conservancy said.

Pastor Daehyun (Daniel) Park said the church’s tower was damaged during a thunderstorm and that the grant will help repair it.

“We prayed for the grant and thank God” they got the money, Park said. “We are so grateful. This is a great opportunity.”

In Amityville, the grant helps pay for replacing aging cedar shingles throughout the church complex, said Father Randolph John Geminder, the longtime rector.

The grant, which will cover about one-tenth of the project’s cost, is “a big help, so we’re very grateful,” he said.

“The shingles do protect the building, but they were curling and cracking. They were very old,” he added. “It was necessary to protect the building’s infrastructure, but it also allowed the building to be restored to what it would have looked like in 1888 when the building was finally completed.”

He said the church is “the cornerstone of the Village of Amityville Historic District.”

The parish helps about 1,700 people in addition to its members through events such as the Amityville Women’s Club, Al-Anon, concerts and band rehearsals, an annual fish fry and guild teas, the conservancy said.

Bellport United Methodist Church “was founded in 1850 and has been in its current building since 1945,” the conservancy said. “The meetinghouse-style church, with its wood frame and Greek Revival pediment, is an excellent, well-preserved example of the mid-19th century wood-frame churches found throughout Long Island.”

The church has a day care center, a thrift store, 12-step meetings, a Girl Scout troop, dance and music classes and a quilting group, the conservancy said.

The Huntington hall was built as the First Universalist Society in 1837, the group said. The Ketewamoke Daughters of the American Revolution have used the building as a chapter house since 1914. The building is used for events including food drives, a fundraiser for the USMC Toys for Tots program, a school supply drive, a book drive and a scholarship program. .