Thursday, December 12, 2024
What’s interesting, and amazing, about the creation of the Babylon village gazebo is that it became a template for future projects scattered across the village. These would include projects like the Robert Moses statue, the Bayman, the historic fountain in front of the Historical Society, and the growth of the Babylon Beautification Society, to name a few.
The unique Babylon village sauce that made these projects fly was an active group of citizens who joined hands as full partners with their village government. Often when civic projects are initiated, they begin as government inspirations, like fixing our roads or building a park. The government entity will often appoint an advisory group to support the governmental agency’s final decisions. This, I may add, may be the only way to build large civic projects.
Building the gazebo, however, was different. The Beautification Society was fresh off the erection of the statue “Sea Dreams,” in front of the library, and was looking for a new project. In 1983, the society board zeroed in on the aging village band shell, which stood at the rear of the property the gazebo now occupies. I remember the seven or so dedicated women, and me, who comprised the board representing a growing society, sitting around my dining room table, in solidarity: “Let’s build a gazebo!” I’m not sure that, at the time, any of us had any idea how to build a world-class public gazebo.
It would not have happened if it hadn’t been for our next step, bringing our grand idea to the mayor. The mayor at the time was the venerable, longtime officeholder Gilbert C. Hanse. There’s no need to go into details, but let’s just say that Hanse and I came from very different political backgrounds. We had a mutual distrust, but we both loved the village, and it was in our best interest to make the project work. Not to mention the fact that Isabel Gallager, the society’s founding president and arguably the most respected person in our community, remained very active throughout the project.
The partnership worked! The village and the beautification team met regularly. I will never forget Hanse pulling out a yellow ledger pad and detailing the exact costs the village expended while the Beautification Society was lagging a little behind. A deal was a deal! The society went into overdrive to raise additional funds. Of course, the village fair was quickly becoming the largest single-day fair on Long Island, and a true moneymaker.
The gazebo was finally finished, and dedicated on Aug. 25, 1985. The Robert Madey-architected, iconic structure stands proudly for all to use and admire. It has never lost its utilitarian luster. Just as important, the model under which it was created, village and civic activists as equal partners, became a time-tested winner.
As an aside, watch Mayor Mary Adams and the Village Historical Society members work to create the Hawley’s Pond Essential Workers Fountain. It will be a real test for the village gazebo model. And, oh yeah — Gil Hanse and I became friends.
Wayne Horsley is the Babylon village historian.
