Improving Suburbia Portfolio #3, Lake Ronkonkoma

Lake Ronkonkoma as seen from
St. Mary's Episcopal Church 

Disclaimer:please note some images 

not appropriate for all ages or the sensitive, please proceed 

at your own discretion.... 

Architect denied is about improving suburbia by creating an awareness and hopefully a movement against sprawl development. I'm sure many of you who live on Long Island or other places that are similar (scenic beauty being overrun by senseless development) are fed up with yet another instant neighborhood being built or another strip mall being constructed usually at the expense of pristine natural sites. I'm sure those who moved to Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, before the age of sprawl could not agree with me more. Lake Ronkonkoma is a very interesting place and if you have never heard of it than I think you may be intrigued to learn about it, or maybe not. OK I'm getting out the unicycle and juggling flaming bowling pins, interested now? I thought so. Lake Ronkonkoma is a hamlet but also a lake, the largest one on Long Island. For this article I will focus primarily on the Lake and the immediate surrounding area, which in its former days I imagined was a resort area (good guess since most of LI is "resort" area). I have known about the Lake and its legends for many years but never thought much about it, until I started my investigation for this article. I'm not going to give you an authoritative history of the area, as you can find that yourself anywhere. I would rather give you a personal account of my visit to this place from an architects point of view with a few detours here and there. OK, 90% detours 10% architecture, after all, this is an alternative site, the lake and my web site that is, supposedly.

To  better understand this experience a little background and legend is in order. Anyone who lives near Lake Ronkonkoma or on Long Island for that matter, most likely knows the legendary tales about this fabled body of water. When I was a child my parents would drive by the lake and tell me stories that it was bottomless and swimmers would drown by being sucked into a vortex pulling them down into an underwater channel and spitting them out in Connecticut or the ocean. They may have told me this to scare the bejesus out of me I'm sure, trying keeping me away from the lake until now. Almost every year some poor soul does drown in this lake and sometimes their bodies are never recovered. There is also the legend of the "Lady of the Lake".  There are a few versions of the story, here is one of them: A native American Indian, daughter of Chief Setauket, fell in love with a European settler named Hugh Birdsall 

Hugh Birdsall?  St. Mary's

who lived across the lake. She was however forbidden by her father to pursue her love for this man. So for seven years she would paddle her canoe out to the middle of the lake and float a message on a piece of bark to her beloved. Eventually she was forced into an arranged marriage with someone she did not love. Finally giving up all hope of being united with her love she paddled out one last time to the middle of the lake and killed herself. Ever since then, the lake every year, claims a young male, avenging the princess and trying to find her a soul mate in death. Hugh Birdsall, was a real person we know for fact and after the princess died he moved back to England. Strangely enough the statistics show many young males have lost their lives in this lake year after year.  Just recently a young male kayak-er, drowned in the lake, whose body wasn't found for days. The previous year a young man was asked by a stranger if he would swim out to retrieve a remote controlled boat, he too drowned, that one bothered me much. Coincidence or legend? You be the judge. There is a book written on the subject by a former life guard of the lake, Dr. David Igneri, who shares his personal experience along with the legends.

Artist's paint giant mural of the "Lady of the Lake" at Lakeside Deli on Rosevale Ave.

My tale begins at the East end of the lake where I began my research. I parked my car and looked for a way down to the lake shore. I came upon a tired old concrete barrier that was leaning from years of settling. Thinking the shore below was not a far drop, I jumped down injuring myself in the fall, not severe but enough for it to smart for some time; my day started off on the wrong foot you might say...(ha,ha)

With a slight limp, I began photographing this interesting old wall when I came upon what looked like a seagull taking a nap, I was startled because I did not see it until I was right over it. It was at the waters edge in a peaceful state with its eyes closed. I made some noise to wake it but I soon realized it was dead and this was its final resting place. I walked a few steps more when I came across a dead raccoon at the top of some steps, it was obvious, it too was dead but now I was thinking what the hell is going on with this place? I quickly moved on as some strangers above were lurking around.

You may be thinking nothing very strange about my experience so far but I did get a queasy feeling like something was wrong, maybe I just have an over active imagination. If nothing else, it most certainly set the tone for how I would proceed with the rest of my adventure. As I scanned the immediate area, the houses I found, even the interesting ones, seemed depressing. They could be heard calling out for help, swallowed up by over development. The lake itself is surrounded on all sides by a network of heavily traveled roads and homes clustered tightly together which cut the lake off from adjacent parks and nature preserves just beyond. I can easily imagine in times past charming homes built in harmony with the area on the wooded hills overlooking the lake, people enjoying themselves at the Inn - restaurant promenade. Even harder to imagine now is that many years ago a beautiful Indian girl named Princess Ronkonkoma walked these shores and paddled her canoe on these serene waters. I think there is hope however.  I believe the lake and the community even in its present state is a lovely place. I believe that thoughtful future development and planning could restore it to a former glory.

The steps at Raynor Park  (East side of lake)

I don't say this out of nostalgia but out of comparing the old and new that are found side by side in the area. I am a staunch modernist and love modern architecture but the recent "stuff" that is built here is not impressive in any sense. It is very apparent more effort and thought went into the planning years ago as evidence from the older structures found around the lake. On my second day of photographing I found these steps above that lead to Raynor park. The steps as you can guess are from times past, old and charming. New steps today would unfortunately not be built with this level of detail. They would be "economical"  or cluttered with stupid code designations. What, am I against code and public safety? No, but some codes, well a lot don't increase safety at all but muck up the design world. Compare these newer built steps below to the classic ones at Raynor Park:

The lake architecture most seeking to breath is the Tudor style buildings here and there mixed with the typical newer tract architecture. There is not much of it but if you look around you will find some examples like this home below:

The vistas are nice such as the one that frames a retirement building on the east side of the lake. There is a popular restaurant-club built on the lake shore but unfortunately a road (a very busy road I might add) cuts it off  from its promenade creating an unusual layout.

Retirement home across the lake

Park, with facilities, tennis courts playgrounds etc. At Ronkonkoma Beach

As you would expect to find, there are a few parks around the lake. However there is no real sense of connection to nature. Lake Ronkonkoma Park has reclaimed some of its land back from an old restaurant, "The Bavarian Inn" which was recently demolished (I have always wanted to eat there, oh well too late). Unfortunately a major highway cuts it off from a vast nature preserve.

Photo taken near the recently demolished Bavarian Inn

If you decide to visit the lake in the off season I suggest you take a friend, not that I was in any real danger by myself but the area seems to attract curious people who like to hang around (such as myself). One should never discount strange occurrences like I experienced, it can be unsettling and make you feel uneasy if you are alone. The lake and its legends are reminders of the past, some tragic and some wonderful.

Lake Ronkonkoma is a good case study in buried potential waiting to be celebrated once again. Placed in one of the parks is a memorial to fallen soldier Lt. Michael Murphy, United States Navy Seal who you may recall is a true American hero. I'm glad he is being honored in this way but right next to him they should place the Lady of the Lake memorial to comfort and keep him well in the after life. In any event how they ignore this legend that is found in the hearts of thousands including myself is a squandered opportunity. Thank god for artists. They have painted a large mural of her on the side of a building, The Lakeside Deli to honor her (see photo above in this article). As for the architecture of lake Ronkonkoma, I agree with JOBS, "take a look around everything you see was made by people no smarter than you..." this is true of this place, we can always do better.    

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