Progress at 1st Precinct site

Baldwin residents may have noticed construction crews at the 1st Precinct site, at the corner of Merrick Road and Harrison Avenue, in recent weeks. They also may have noticed that the building that was once adjacent to the current 1st Precinct headquarters is no longer there.

Demolition of the Huntington Learning Center was completed on Dec. 10, and construction of the future 1st Precinct headquarters is under way.

After much discussion and years of proposals, Nassau County has moved forward with its plan for a new, three-story precinct headquarters on the site. The county decided to purchase the Huntington Learning Center property to gain more space, and to preserve the Kellogg House, on the opposite corner of Merrick and Harrison, as a community center.

The project was held up for months, a county spokesman told the Herald this fall, because it took longer than expected for the county to close on the learning center property. It did so in late September.

The project has an estimated price of $13 million and is targeted for completion in early 2016 — which will depend on the weather, Department of Public Works spokeswoman Mary Studdert noted.

When the new headquarters is complete, police personnel will move in and the current headquarters will be demolished, Studdert said. While construction is under way, the builder will use the Kellogg House — a 114-year-old structure that was most recently an antiques store — for its offices and overflow parking in order to keep parking on residential streets to a minimum.