By Jeff Lipton
Now, more than four years later, beset by unforeseen reconstruction setbacks and county and state budget woes, the center has still not been officially opened to serve the public, even though opening dates have been announced several times and a housewarming party was thrown for the community on Nov. 28, 1999.
Another opening date has been promised this one in about two weeks but this time it appears the promise will be kept.
The building cleared its final hurdle in October when the Nassau County Fire Marshal certified that the building at 86 East Rockaway Road was up to fire safety codes. Officials say the center has unofficially been open for about a month and 1 in 9: The Long Island Breast Cancer Action Coalition, which will operate the center, has already served about a dozen people seeking assistance, said Geri Barish, executive director of Hewlett House.
House gets finishing touches
Furniture was delivered on Saturday, Dec. 8, and phone lines will be installed on Thursday, Dec. 13, putting the finishing touches on the building. All records and services have been moved from the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, where 1 in 9 staff set up temporary offices before making the permanent move to Hewlett.
We've been ready to go for a long time, Barish said. I just want to service the community.
We're all so anxious that it has taken so long, Barish said. I feel like this has taken forever. Never in my life would I have imagined it would take this long...If the community was disgusted, we were more disgusted.
She said there were many times when she felt like abandoning her dream to open the center, but the thought of young women with breast cancer needing her help kept her going. There are so many people who are so uninformed that need our help, she said.
Hewlett House, built in 1750 and owned by the Hewlett family, was deeded to the Hewlett-Woodmere School District who sold it to the county for $1 in 1997 because it was falling into ruin and the district did not have the capacity to restore it.
Hewlett House setbacks
One of the main setbacks came when County Comptroller Fred Parola last year conducted an audit of the construction costs that would be spent on the house, saying they would top $1.5 millionabout twice original estimatesand that costs had escalated out of control.
But Jerry Kessler, president of Friends of Long Island's Heritage, which helps restore and preserve historic buildings and which managed the Hewlett House construction, said the Parola report was severely flawed. He said many government officials realized that the cost of restoring an historic building is four to six times more expensive than the cost of normal construction. In addition, renovating an historic building could take twice as long. Hewlett House was one of the finest examples of 18th century construction in the county and one of the few buildings like that still remaining, he said.
It had to be restored for its significance and under high standards of restoration, Kessler said.
Everyone in the county connected with it knew what it would cost. They realized it was a $1 million-plus project. Hearings on the costs were held, but officials could not conclude that the money was being misspent.
There were never any cost overruns, Kessler said. Parola's report was challenged all over the place. And Kessler added that he never issued those predictions about when the center would open.
Kessler said the project was shut down for several months at a time because county and state funding dried up. Altogether, the project was delayed about 12 months because of budget difficulties, including one significant span from October 1998 to May 1999.
Since the roof leaked, rain water rotted the floor, which had to be replaced.
We had to reconstruct the whole building, said Kessler, who first took on the project in May 1998. We had to gut the whole building. We had to plaster all the walls and ceiling. The place was just a shell. We rebuilt the entire building. We put a basement under it and reinforced the flooring.
Workers from the painter's union volunteered their services working three nights a week for three months. Other supplies and services were also donated.
Barish said as a result of Sept. 11 supplies that were promised to be donated never came through because businesses went under.
In addition, she said there was a delay in getting the parking reserved for the center since the Hewlett-Woodmere School District was discussing whether to use the property adjacent to the house as a soccer field, an idea condemned by many community members. A handicapped ramp also needed to be installed.
Dream comes true
But with all these problems apparently in the past, Barish said the center is ready to serve anyone who needs their help.
It's a dream that has come true for survivors of breast cancer, for the people in the community who are enthusiastic about having a learning center and a resource center just for breast cancer, said Bruce Blakeman, former majority leader of the Nassau County Legislature and chairman of the Hewlett House Council. We're just gratified that it will be open. We wish it could have been open much sooner, but better late than never.
He called it incredibly frustrating to see the building remain dormant over the last few years and blamed the construction manager who failed to expeditiously prosecute the renovation of Hewlett House.
I am also very disappointed it was not a priority of the administration considering the number of people that could have been helped at Hewlett House, a more pleasant environment than the current offices of Hewlett House [at the Nassau University Medical Center].
It was not treated as a high priority when I left office, Blakeman said.
Barish said the concept of converting Hewlett House into a comprehensive breast cancer resource center was a noble one, but in hindsight it may have been a poor decision, since it took so long to rehabilitate because of its historical status. Clearly, she pointed out, if a conventional home had been set aside for the center, it would have been open a long time ago helping survivors and their families.
Blakeman said he and community resident Shelby Modell hatched the idea of renovating the Hewlett House, a very important and historical site, into the breast cancer learning and resource center.
We came up with a concept of a facility that was a house but also a place for women and their families that was clearly not clinical, Blakeman said. It took on a life of its own.
He said if it weren't for Hewlett House, they would not have even considered opening such a center. I thought it was a good idea then and an even better idea now, Blakeman said.
The delay over the past year can be attributed to a large punch list of items that needed to be done and was not completed in an expeditious manner, Blakeman said. It is too late to point fingers. It has been restored and it is ready to help breast cancer patients.
In about six months, he said, everyone will forget about the delays and will be very pleased to have a center that is helping breast cancer patients and their families.
I don't blame the school district, Barish said. They've been wonderful.
We're here to service the community. People need us. Let's just get in there.
