(PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.) - Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D – Glen Cove) secured an $89,197 Community Revitalization Project (CRP) grant for the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District.
The funds will be applied toward extensive, historically appropriate repairs to the Thomas Dodge Homestead and three structures on the property, which is owned by the Water Pollution Control District and operated by the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society as a house museum and education center.
Planned repairs to the circa-1721 house include replacing all existing exterior cedar shakes, repairing and replacing various windows, reglazing all historic windows and storms, as needed, exterior painting, replacing stairs for the exterior attic, roofing improvements, and building a new foundation for the last surviving historic outhouse in Port Washington.
In addition to house tours, the Homestead is home to a ReWild Long Island initiative through which student volunteers engage in a 16-week summer program to learn about ecosystems, plant identification and care, composting, and the historical significance of the homestead at the Mill Pond Historic District. Organic produce grown during the summer program is then donated to Our Lady of Fatima R.C. Church.
“The funding that Minority Leader DeRiggi-Whitton secured will help us save a true historic gem and one of the oldest structures in Port Washington,” said Chris Bain, President of the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society. “We are thrilled that this support came through, and our architects are hard at work drawing up specific plans for the best possible preservation plan.”
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“As stewards of our communities, we have a responsibility to preserve historic treasures like the Thomas Dodge Homestead and use them as vessels for bringing history alive in the present day,” Minority Leader DeRiggi-Whitton said. “It is especially heartwarming to see how the Port Washington Water Pollution Control District and the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society take their educational mission to the next level by working with local environmental groups and food pantries to fight hunger in our community. This funding will make a tremendously positive impact throughout our region, and I thank my colleagues for unanimously approving this grant.”
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