Reopening of former Carltun Eisenhower Park catering hall delayed until late July

The former Carltun restaurant and catering hall in Eisenhower Park is expected to reopen in late July — about three months later than originally anticipated — because of delays in renovating the popular venue for weddings, fine dining and smoking cigars, officials said.

Trahanas Holdings LLC, the Carltun’s new operator, is spending more than $6.5 million on upgrades to the 35,000-square-foot facility in hopes of attracting PGA and LPGA tournaments, as well as national car auctions and charitable events. The East Meadow property is owned by Nassau County.

Last week, the board of the county’s Industrial Development Agency voted unanimously to grant Trahanas an additional sales-tax exemption of $99,975 on the purchase of furniture, fixtures and equipment. The exemption now totals up to $444,975, according to IDA records.

Trahanas requested the additional tax break “as a result of cost increases” on furnishings and equipment that “are above the prices they had hoped and expected to pay” when the IDA first granted the aid in February, an agency attorney said at last week’s IDA meeting.

The total project cost has increased by $1 million in the period, a Trahanas spokesman said on Monday.

Trahanas is a partnership between brothers Bobby and Elias Trahanas, who own the Golden Reef Diner in Rockville Centre and concessions at Jones Beach and Robert Moses state parks. The partnership, once known as EGB Hospitality LLC, was reconstituted after three others left the project, according to the spokesman.

"We know how much Long Island loves this property and appreciate the anticipation that is building to see it reopen and teeming with excitement again," Elias Trahanas said. "We thank Nassau County and the IDA for helping make this vision a reality that will become a destination known around the country."

The partnership has leased the former Carltun for at least 15 years and has renamed it The Lannin to honor businessman Joseph J. Lannin, who created the park, formerly known as Salisbury Golf Club, in 1917. 

The administration of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman has been working with the new operators to return professional golf to the park.

“We’ve talked to the [LPGA] about coming back to Nassau County,” Blakeman said last month at a news conference about a tourism commercial. “We would need sponsors for that. We’ve engaged some of the potential sponsors who might be interested. So we might be bringing the women’s tour back to Eisenhower Park.”

The park last hosted a professional tournament on its 18-hole Red Course in 2008. The event, sponsored by Commerce Bank, was part of the PGA Champions Tour for golfers  older than 50. The annual tournament began in 1987 at a private golf club in Jericho before transferring to the public course.

In 1926, the men’s PGA Championship was played on the Red Course and won by golf legend Walter Hagen. 

Another public golf course on Long Island, Bethpage Black at Bethpage State Park, has hosted both the men’s PGA Championship and U.S. Open, along with other PGA Tour events. In 2025, the international Ryder Cup will be played there.

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.