Huntington gets set to demolish old bank to make way for parking

The demolition of a former bank building in downtown Huntington in the next few weeks will clear the way for additional parking spaces.

Huntington Town Supervisor Chad Lupinacci said the old Chase Bank building at the northwest corner of New York Avenue and Gerard Street is being prepared to be torn down, including checking for asbestos.   

“Depending on the weather and whether asbestos remediation is warranted, we expect demolition of Chase Bank to be complete by the end of March,” Lupinacci said. “Within a few weeks of that, recycled concrete will go down where the building once stood and will be open for parking, with official reconstruction and paving of the full expanded lot taking place during the summer months.”

The town closed on the purchase of the building and parcel in November and has been using the lot for public parking. The plan is to develop even more parking on the site. 

The lot currently has 29 spots and one handicap-accessible space. Once the repaving and striping are complete, the parcel will yield 71 new parking spots one block north of Main Street along New York Avenue, Lupinacci said. The new lot will be combined with a municipal lot north of the Chase lot, which already has 82 parking spaces. The grass and curbs between the two properties will be removed and paved over during the summer reconstruction, town officials said. The parking will be free.

“This is a great step forward in expanding the parking supply to help ease parking congestion in downtown Huntington village,” Lupinacci said.

The town approved purchasing the lot in May 2019 for $3.05 million.

The Huntington Fire Department plans to use the old bank building for training throughout February.