Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center gets lease extension

Nassau County has signed a 20-year lease extension with the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Glen Cove.

The county has owned the property, commonly known as the Welwyn Preserve, since 1975 and leases the land to the Center for $1 per year.

“It is critical to support the Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center, not only to honor the lives that were lost and to celebrate the survivors who made it, but also so those of us alive today as well as future generations do not repeat the errors of our ancestors,” County Executive Edward Mangano said. "The importance of the Center is that it educates us to allow us to learn from mistakes of the past and, from that knowledge, prevent this hatred of our fellow human beings from ever happening again."

The new lease, which was signed Tuesday, provides the center with a permit to operate and manage programming at the museum. The center is also responsible for making repairs to the building.

The museum, which opened in 1993, teaches the dangers of anti-Semitism, racism, bullying and other forms of intolerance. Since 2007, nearly 180,000 people have participated in the center’s educational programs, including 130,000 students.