Most of the restoration projects in Roslyn have to do with such recognizable buildings as the Clock Tower and the Robeson-Williams Grist Mill, plus the numerous older homes in the area.

Recently, the Roslyn Preservation Corporation has overseen the restoration of another unique building, the old water tower located on grounds at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor. According to Jefferson Mansell, executive director of the Roslyn Landmark Society, the Gerry Charitable Trust funded the $120,000 restoration project.

The tower is located in the pinetum area of the museum grounds. Mansell also described the tower as a structure that "resembles a castle on a chess board." At one time it included a tank that supplied water for the vast Mackay estate which is where the museum is now located.

Mansell said the building, in recent years, had fallen into serious disrepair. While it no longer functions as a working water tower, it is one of the two such structures in the Roslyn area. The other water tower is located in East Hills. Mansell added that the water tower is a unique piece of architecture and that in itself was enough reason to undergo a restoration project. Personnel at the Nassau County Museum of Art cooperated with the renovation work, he added, while John Collins, president of the Preservation Corporation drew up the initial plan to restore the water tower.

"This is the preservation of a significant building," Mansell said. "It is an important and really unique structure. There's not too many of them left. It also represents a nice centerpiece for the pinetum area of the museum. The building looks great."

In other news, Mansell added that the Landmark Society remains interested in the progress of a proposal to build row houses in downtown Roslyn. In recent months, the Landmark Society has expressed some reservations about the proposal, but Mansell said the society is willing to work with the village as the plan progresses in the upcoming months.