Veterans club reborn as new Knights of Columbus home in Lindenhurst

Home sweet home.

That’s the feeling members of the Knights of Columbus Council No. 794 in Lindenhurst said they have after officially moving into their new headquarters, a long-empty building that once was home to a veterans group.

Last month, the 500-member council unveiled the newly renovated World War Veterans Club building, a nearly 100-year-old community centerpiece that Suffolk County owns. 

The council had been without a meeting place since selling their former South Broadway building nearly a decade ago and had been gathering at the American Legion Post on Herbert Avenue.

“It feels like being a family together now,” said Bill Crosby, 73, who has been part of the council chapter for 53 years.

The council is a Catholic fraternal benefit society formed in 1903 whose local chapter does volunteer work for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church in Lindenhurst as well as other charity efforts in the community.

Its new home has a history of its own.

In 1919, 38 veterans formed the World War Veterans Club and in 1924 bought the land at 185 N. Broadway for $500, constructing the roughly 2,400-square-foot building, said Babylon Town Historian Mary Cascone.

By the 1950s there were more than 200 participants, but with membership limited to veterans of the first two world wars, by the 1990s, the group had dwindled as building expenses rose.

In 1999, the club agreed to sell the building to Suffolk County for $50,000. Then in 2003, the county sold it to Babylon Town with the stipulation that it be turned into a veterans museum, Cascone said. 

That never happened, and the building reverted back to the county in 2019 before the county agreed to a no-cost, 19-year license agreement with the Knights of Columbus.

The group pays no rent or property taxes on the building but has to pay for utilities and upkeep, said Suffolk Legis. Kevin McCaffrey (R-Lindenhurst), a local council member since 1988. He said he helped facilitate the agreement with Suffolk County Historic Trust, which supervises county-owned historic properties.

The pandemic and a lengthy county procurement process delayed progress on the building's rehabilitation these past three years, according to McCaffrey.

When the council in 2020 took over the white stucco building with a castle-like parapet, the downstairs was draped in cobwebs with a vine crawling in from the yard.

The members spent $200,000 from the sale of their South Broadway building for renovations that included new bathrooms, windows and a heating, ventilation and cooling system. Now, the building also has an elevator and is accessible for disabled people — other improvements funded with a $39,000 Babylon Town grant.

Other parts of the face-lift honored existing features — original wood flooring was sanded, knotty pine walls restored and brass sconces polished.

"It's been a long journey but we finally have a place to call our own," McCaffrey said.

Council Grand Knight Patrick Corcoran said they hope to be able to open up the building to visitors to share its history. He said the space won't be rented for large parties, although members will be able to use it for their events.

As part of the renovations, the organization has included pieces of its history throughout the building, including a photo of its founder, while acknowledging the property's past as a veterans' club by placing seals of the five military branches in the foyer.

Council members also are working with Cascone on a display that will include military uniforms and artifacts from the original veterans club.

“It’s a piece of Lindenhurst’s history,” Cascone said. " … This is the right group to make this their home.”

By Denise M. Bonilla

denise.bonilla@newsday.comdenisebonilla

Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.