Marion Carll Farm - The History of Commack

Is Marion Carll Farm worth preserving?  How many times have you heard the statement Commack has no sense of community nor does it have an identity.  You may have also heard that Commack is just a place on a map part of Huntington and part of Smithtown, no individuality, no downtown, it has nothing worth fighting for. 

The preservation of Marion Carll Farm is about saving Commack’s history and it is about fighting for community.   

The Commack School District owns and maintains Marion Carll Farm and the nine acres on which it sits. If it sells the property the district stands to gain tax revenue when the proposed purchaser builds luxury condominiums on the property.  Sounds reasonable except, how much building does Commack need to make school taxes affordable?  There is intense development throughout Commack and especially the Townline corridor.  Throughout Commack there is a Target shopping center, A Macy’s Shopping center, Costco, Shop Rite, Kohl’s, Home Depot, Home Goods… all paying taxes to the school district.  Both Smithtown and Huntington have maximized development in Commack.

The Marion Carll Farm is costing the Commack School District money.  For some forty years the residents of Commack have been providing a limited amount of upkeep on the property.  The district has recently provided to the public information regarding the costs to maintain the property.  Some people working for the preservation of the farm have questioned the validity of the stated costs.  It makes sense for the district to look for a way to eliminate the maintenance costs.  What doesn’t make sense is for the district to refuse to explore options such as the Peconic Land Trust, which has preserved over 10,000 acres of farmland on Long Island. Reaching out to the Land Trust could help preserve the farm possibly through a public - private partnership and rid the school district of the maintenance expense. 

Tom Lyon, co-director of Hobbs Community Farm in Centereach said it best, “It would be an irony of tragic proportions if a 300 year old farmstead, intact and preserved for so long already, should be dismembered now when there is such a resurgence of interest nationwide in all things agrarian.  Extinction, of animals and historic farms, is forever.”

The residents of Commack voted to oppose the sale of Marion Carll Farm. The Commack School Board needs to explain to residents what options, other than selling the property for development, they have explored to reduce the tax burden created by ownership of Marion Carll Farm. 

The Marion Carll Farm is part of the history of Commack. What is the price of Commack’s history?

Pat

Comments

[Fred Kruger, Ph.D., Commack]

The Marion Carll Farm should be used by the community to study and learn about the differences and similarities in the operation of a 19th century family farm compared to a modern family farm. Included can be the introduction of various farm technologies, methodologies, implements, devices, and vehicles, with on-going references to the necessary mechanical, scientific and technical skills and operations required for the day to day operation of a farm. Real life activities and demonstrations will facilitate development of a deeper comprehension of the value of the application of scientific and technical principles to the every day operations of a working farm.

Through hands-on experiences, the fundamentals of physics, biology, chemistry, earth science, meteorology, geology will become friendly tools for investigation and problem solving outside the classroom as problems are defined and solutions sought. Simultaneously, the opportunity will be provided for direct involvement with various farm animals, plants, machines, tools, and structures. Students will learn how to use old and contemporary technological methods to assure successful farm operations as they are introduced to various living farm plants and animals as they learn.

On the Commack Schools-Marion Carll property, students will be challenged by the same issues confronting a family farm owner in Commack more than 100 years ago (starting with grade appropriate orientations). Moreover, they also will be asked to come up with innovative, maybe more efficient and safer solutions, using a contemporary, interdisciplinary approach linking scientific and technological approaches.

Locally grown produce can be made available to the community both for income and to demonstrate the quality and richer tastes of food grown (and marketed) the way our forefathers did. Perhaps some of this food will even appear on the menu in Commack school cafeterias.