Community rallies to protect home rooted in medical history

An unsuspecting historical home on Centre Avenue in Bellmore is in danger of being re-developed into two homes, but members of the community are rallying to prevent that from happening. Since November of last year, Christine Keller has been advocating for the preservation of the home and trying to get it landmarked by the Town of Hempstead Landmark Preservation Committee.

The Gouin-Lawrence-Graber House at 2216 Centre Avenue was built in 1938, and comparatively to some other structures in the community, isn’t the oldest. While the home embodies at 1930s style and is in relatively original condition inside, the campaign to save the home is more about the history of the families who lived there.

Dr. William Gouin hired Ronald M. Peck, an architect, to design and build the home with an attached office for a general medical practice, in the late 1930s. Peck was a lead architect with the firm of Frederic P. Wiedersum Architects, which designed and built Wellington C. Mepham High School. The high school opened in 1937, a historic moment for the community.

Throughout the years, the home and medical offices were later occupied by Dr. Jesse Lawrence and then Dr. George Graber. As general practitioners during an era dubbed the “golden age of medicine,” the doctors’ history in Bellmore was both influential in the American medical profession as well as the local Jewish community.

The property is currently owned by Capstone Homes, LLC. Capstone Homes has filed an application with the Nassau County Planning Commission to subdivide the home into two land parcels in order to build two new homes.

At a hearing on April 4, the Landmarks Commission recommended that the home not be landmarked. Keller requested an appeal, and submitted additional documents, demonstrating the history of the home and its occupants.

Angel Ayón, an architect and preservationist who is currently the vice chair of the Board of Trustees of the Preservation League of NY State, wrote a letter to the Landmarks Commission, stating “the building was conceived as a mixed-use property to accommodate a north-facing medical office downstairs and a residence on the rest of the ground floor and upstairs. One of the design features that makes this historic structure so distinctive is the way in which its original mixed use program was resolved both on the façade and in the interiors.”

The letter, in detail, discusses the architectural highlights of the home. In closing, Ayón wrote, “there should be no doubt that the existing Gouin-Lawrence-Graber house at 2116 Centre Avenue in Bellmore, Long Island is a landmark-quality historic property that deserves the protections derived from local designation.”

Sarah Kautz, an archaeologist, historical anthropologist and preservation advocate, who runs a private consulting corporation, also agreed the home is worthy of landmark status, citing the Town of Hempstead’s code in a letter, which states: “the Commission shall consider the special character, ambiance, historical significance, aesthetic value and uniqueness of architectural design of the proposed landmark or landmark site wherever applicable.”

The appeal with the Landmarks Commission was denied on May 1. The notice regarding the decision states that Keller did submit additional documentation to support her application, but that the commission again voted to not recommend preservation status. The commission also notified Keller that she is allowed appeal the decision again within the next 90 days with the Town Board.

Keller hosted a community rally in front of the home on June 14, with the hopes of attracting more support. She is hoping to be added to an agenda for an upcoming Town Board meeting, but if not, can speak during the public comment section.

“That’s what we’re striving towards,” Keller said at the rally. “I requested that we be added to the agenda. At this point, we’ve almost done everything we can — but more letters don’t hurt — more community support.”

“Landmark designation is vital to protecting residents of Hempstead’s distinctive neighborhoods such as Bellmore from suffering the irreversible loss of treasured historic places,” Kautz wrote in her letter to the Landmark Commission. “It is one of the Town’s most powerful tools to curtail the erasure of structures with architectural significance.”