The future of West Hempstead's Eagle Ave. school

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Last month, the West Hempstead Board of Education unanimously voted in support of a resolution to present a $46 million capital project bond referendum to the community that would renovate the district’s computer and science labs, expand the middle school gymnasium, renovate the high school auditorium and athletic fields, make necessary roofing and masonry repairs, and a host of other efforts. The district’s specific plans would be presented to the community on November 17 for a district vote.

The work also includes the razing of the Marian Delany School on Eagle Avenue, a building that not only holds a special place in the hearts of some West Hempstead residents, but also houses the Gersh Academy, a school for children on the autism spectrum. The Marian Delany School has been leased to Gersh by the school district for the past three years.

”All Long Island schools have less and less of a student body, and I can understand that downsizing or repurposing buildings is necessary,” said Lesley McAvoy, but I also know some people here really love that building,” said Lesley McAvoy, historian to the West Hempstead Historical Society. “When I think of buildings in West Hempstead that are beautiful, this is one of them.”

McAvoy thinks the building’s potential demolition is ironic because, “At one point in West Hempstead, when the population was booming in the late ‘60s, the hamlet couldn’t build enough schools,” she said. McAvoy believes there is a time capsule buried somewhere inside the building and would like to get access to it. 

When asked about the potential demolition of the building, Kevin Gersh, founder of the Gersh Academy, said, “They still have get permission from the community. I don’t know if that’s going to happen or not.” Gersh, who has schools in nine locations, most of which are on Long Island, added that he is looking for a new location for his school, but really doesn’t want to leave the building, and doesn’t think it’s in bad shape. The Gersh Academy in West Hempstead services over 100 families from the tri-state area.

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