Local voices matter! Thank you to all who joined in supporting the preservation of Belgrave Motors (aka Great Neck Tower Ford or Biener Audi), a historic place in the Village of Thomaston threatened by demolition. The Village Landmarks Preservation Commission met on Tuesday, January 4, 2022 to consider local landmark designation for the site. More than 100 members of the public participated in the Zoom public meeting and every resident who spoke was in favor of granting the building landmark status.
Please remember: Belgrave Motors is not yet an official village landmark. The Village Board must now vote to approve landmark designation. We will provide more updates on our website and on social media to let the public know when the Village Board’s landmark hearing is scheduled. Stay tuned!
According to a report by the Village of Thomaston’s landmark consultant, Belgrave Motors meets the criteria for local landmark designation. Read the report here.
Landmark designation does not prevent private owners from seeking reasonable economic benefit from their property. In fact, numerous studies show that landmarking helps protect property values from market volatility, promoting long-term stability and gradual growth of property values over time.
Preservation Long Island supports designation of Belgrave Motors as a village landmark as defined by the Village Code (see [§ 120-2 Definitions]). Belgrave Motors reflects the rise of suburban lifestyles and spread of popular automobile culture on Long Island during the early 20th century. Remarkably, Belgrave Motors has housed an automobile business for nearly a century. The commercial structure was built around 1930 as part of the residential neighborhood of Belgrave Square, a planned community developed between the 1910s and 1930s. Tudor Revival-style materials and design, as well as poured-in-place reinforced concrete construction methods, are among the distinguishing characteristics of this worthy landmark and its surrounding neighborhood.
On October 29, 2021, the New York State Historic Preservation Office issued a determination that Belgrave Motors is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, noting that: “Many early buildings in the area used the Tudor Revival style, which was popular in new suburban developments in the region during the period. The automobile played an important role in facilitating suburban growth during this period. The use of the Tudor Revival style for the Belgrave Motors automobile showroom lent a sense of tradition and respectability to this modern form of transportation technology.”
Learn more about local history with these great resources:
History of the Village of Thomaston (1976) published by the Village of Thomaston
A History of Thomaston (1987) by Susan Hirschhorn, former Village of Thomaston Historian
