The Hotel Huntington is a substantial historic resource that illustrates Huntington’s downtown commercial development patterns after World War I. Designed by Long Island architect, August H. Galow, the hotel was the result of local investment interests organized through the Chamber of Commerce paired with a vision of Huntington as a sophisticated urban destination. Despite opening for business five months before the Great Stock Market Crash of 1929, the three-story, sixty-room building successfully served as a first class hotel for two decades. The stature and sophistication of the building shaped New York Avenue’s south side, anchoring a new entrance to the town’s expanding business district. The building was converted into a high-end department store in 1950 and continued to serve as retail space until the 1990s when it was converted again for office use. During this time, the building’s material integrity diminished (particularly interior design features). The large, appropriately scaled structure of the former Hotel Huntington is a good candidate for a multi-purpose, adaptive reuse plan that typically enhances downtown vitality. The building’s current owner has recently entered into an agreement with TD Bank who has submitted plans to the Town of Huntington to demolish the building and replace it with a one-story branch building with drive-through teller accommodations. The Town’s Historic Preservation Commission has recommended local landmark designation for the building with strong support from local residents to halt the immediate threat of demolition. The community, in opposing this contextually insensitive incursion, calls for the Hotel Huntington’s rehabilitation and the creation of a mixed-use redevelopment that adheres to principles outlined in the Town’s comprehensive plan.
STATUS: LOST
• Threatened by demolition: developer working with TD bank wanted the site for drive-through branch bank.
• Town approved demolition in 2011. Completed as of 12/12.
• Preservation Long Island listing gave local supporters some legitimacy regarding significance.
