Long Island construction firms preserving history through restoration

In an area such as Long Island, settled hundreds of years ago, there are some homes and other structures that have stood for ages. Local historical societies, advocates and nonprofits are dedicated to preserving these examples of architecture from past eras that need to be restored with special care.

That’s where construction professionals who specialize in working on historic properties ensure the restorations are done properly.

“Historical properties hold significant value to the local community, state or nation, and therefore great care must be taken in order to ensure that any work being done on them matches the historical quality of the original structure,” says Shane Henry of Henry Restoration in Nesconset, a family-owned business that has been restoring Long Island and New York City properties dating as far back as 1774.

Some of Henry Restoration’s significant projects include the Carshalton Gates at Planting Fields Arboretum State Park in Upper Brookville, as well as many different estates, monuments and places of worship, such as the Church of the Holy Trinity, for which they received the Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award in 1998.

Henry explains that even the components of the building materials must be considered to preserve the integrity of a restoration. “The type of sand that was used in [a building’s] mortar could have been sourced right from the local beach,” he offers as an example. “Therefore, in order to replicate the original conditions, that same sand, or one very similar, must be used in order to maintain the same aesthetic and functional properties.”

A high level of expertise is required for restoration work, explains Alex Lipsky, preconstruction sales manager at Lipsky Construction in Bayport.

“There are very few architects, and even fewer contractors today that truly understand how to interact with these building systems in a way that does not damage the building further,” he says.

Lipsky Construction has restored properties on Long Island and boroughs of New York City for decades, counting projects ranging from a World War II torpedo testing facility in Montauk to the oldest synagogue in Queens among its successes. Their work has garnered awards and recognition from the Victorian Society of New York, Associated General Contractors of New York and other organizations.

Difficulty sourcing materials is a common problem encountered during restorations, according to Lipsky.



“Nothing is off the shelf,” he says. “You cannot go to your local hardware store and purchase a custom stair balustrade that a master craftsman hand-carved over 100 years ago.”

Plainview-based EW Howell Construction Group has worked on numerous restorations of historic properties in and around the New York metropolitan area. The company’s past projects have included many buildings constructed more than 100 years ago, including the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, the iconic Enid A. Haupt Conservatory and Palm Dome at New York Botanical Garden and The Dairy in Central Park.

One of EW Howell’s most challenging historic restoration projects was at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, housed in the former Manhattan home of industrial magnate Andrew Carnegie. The 64-room mansion was built from 1899 to 1902.

Bob Zirkel, vice president of EW Howell, says the Cooper Hewitt project was highly challenging and exciting. “The term for all the interior millwork finishes refers to the interior fabric of the building. Most of the millwork needed to be removed, tagged, and stored for reinstallation. EW Howell installed new HVAC, electrical, plumbing and elevators. On the third floor, we had to install a pivoting wall that allowed for huge displays to be installed that would not fit through standard doors. Both projects had their exteriors fully restored.”

While exciting, the process of restoring a property isn’t without its fair share of obstacles. Henry points out that buildings often hide a variety of structural “surprises” that alter the trajectory of projects by necessitating further remedial intervention.

“Opening up a masonry wall to find heavily rusted structural steel elements, or rotted wood framing can lead to structural questions,” Henry says. “Bringing in structural engineers for an evaluation, installing shoring or additional scaffolding, getting additional permits or approvals from the town, village or state all lend to the difficulties that we can face. After dealing with historical structures on a consistent basis, you can start to prepare for these surprises, but they are never identical, nor are the surprises ideal.”

Zirkel says that buildings dating back a century ago present difficulty because there are minimal drawings to reference when undertaking modifications. “Strategic probes or openings of walls, ceilings and floor systems are necessary to understand the structure wherever we need to modify it,” he says.



Lipsky explains that restoration projects are typically funded by local municipalities, state funds, and federal grants, thus mandating union labor and a prevailing wage that can be an average of 40% more than that of private shops, affecting the overall cost of such projects. But public funding comes with benefits as well. “With this funding typically comes a specialized preservation architect or expert consultant who has tremendous knowledge of historical building systems and how to correctly preserve and restore these systems without damage,” he says.

The price tag of an expert restoration may be steep, notes Lipsky, but the value of properly maintaining historical integrity is priceless. “While the projects may seem to be ‘more expensive’ opposed to a rip-and-replace renovation project, these historic projects are in fact the correct cost of doing the preservation project the correct way.”

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