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MOHEGAN LAKE, N.Y. – The last standing buildings at the former Holland Sporting Club on Horton Road in Mohegan Lake are expected to be demolished by the end of the week.
Town officials held a press conference Monday morning on the 14-acre site that has seen no activity in about 25 years to tout the efforts of the highway department in performing the work, saving Yorktown about $35,000.
"It shows what can be done when there's cooperation within the town," said Supervisor Michael Grace, who manned a highway crane to take a chunk out of one of the buildings, which date back to the 1920s. "This is one of the best highway departments in the state."
Highway Superintendent Eric DiBartolo said his crew started taking down the 14 structures on the property on Thursday and have so far filled 18 dumpsters with debris.
"This current administration is serious about getting things done and it shows," DiBartolo said. "We knew it could be done and it comes very under budget. You don't fix what's not broken."
The town purchased the property for $300,000 several years ago but Grace said any work was "stalemated" by what he termed a personality conflict between DiBartolo and former Supervisor Susan Siegel.
Yorktown has spent $75,000 on asbestos abatement and expects to spend an additional $35,000 on cleanup costs. Grace said the town was once quoted as much as $250,000 for the project. Council member Vishnu Patel expressed some safety concerns about using town workers who normally perform other duties.
Once the work is completed, the town board will discuss with neighbors the best use of what Grace called "one of the most beautiful pieces of property in the town."
"The property presents some very interesting possibilities," he said. "The idea was to create something we can put to general town use. The property has been on the back burner for many years and it's such a shame. We have to decide what to do with this property. It's in our destiny."
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