The demolition process has begun for the Civil War-era home at 24 South Park Avenue. What will replace the house on the property is unknown at this time.
The original proposal for the property involved a three-story, mixed-use building, featuring a restaurant on the ground floor, medical offices on the second and third floors and a rooftop dining area. The proposed development required 56 parking spaces, as it was classified as a medical building, along with a 10-foot setback from the road.
The proposal was withdrawn in March, and a new one has not been submitted yet. William Bonesso, the zoning and land use attorney with the firm Forchelli, Deegan and Terrana Law representing owner Joseph DiFigueroa, told the Herald in March that the owner still planned to develop on the property but had no final decisions for a new development at that time.
Community members have expressed concern about the loss of this building, which dates back to 1863, 30 years before Rockville Centre became an official village. South Park Avenue was mostly residential until the 1920s and 30s, when it housed a variety of businesses.
“We were very concerned about saving that historic home, and the impacts of traffic to the residential buildings in the area,” Meghan Kearns, president of the Rockville Centre Civic Association, previously told the Herald, “as well as to the small businesses in the area, as well as the ability for people to park and shop in the downtown, as well as drive down Park Avenue, which is one of the major roadways in Rockville Center.”
The association was looking to preserve the building as a “historical place.”
The Rockville Centre Historical Society posted on Instagram about the organization's "best efforts" to repurpose the building, and highlighted the fact that the house was "the last remaining free-standing home on South Park, a street once all residential."
"We lost a piece of RVC history," the post read.
