Schumacher House Rehab Grant Secured

After the Town of North Hempstead meeting on Tuesday, Supervisor Jon Kaiman answered a resident’s questions about the Schumacher houserestoration.

Kaiman said the town has a $500,000 grant for the Schumacher House that was secured by state Sen. Jack Martins, R-Mineola. Kaiman stated that he anticipates the rehabiitation process for the house will begin sometime in 2013.

The house was built by the Cornell family in the early 1700s, received historic designation by the North Hempstead Historic Landmark Commission and the town in 2005 and was added to New York State Registry of Historic Places in 2007. The New Hyde Park Park District had sold the property and the adjoining playground to the town for the sum of $1 in 2006 in order to help obtain grants for the property.

The home was moved from Lakeville Road to its current location inside Clinton G. Martin Park in the 1950s.

The full restoration of the house will not be completed until more grant money is received, Kaiman said. The first $300,000 of the grant will go toward stabilizing the house, including the roof, which should be done in the next six months, according to the supervisor.

In 2010, then Sen. Craig Johnson, a Democrat, had promised a $500,00 grant to help restore the home, but obtaining the grant had moved slowly after he lost the election that same year to Martins, who reported that paperwork on grants was missing from the 7th Senate District office when he took over.