Old Westbury, NY – New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) Associate Professor of Architecture Frances Campani and Professor Michael Schwarting's urban design plan for the Village of Port Jefferson, N.Y., is one step closer to reality. The Town of Brookhaven and the Village of Port Jefferson have just been awarded a $95,000 matching grant from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund to perform a technical study of the village plan.

"The idea is to create a continuous harbor park to allow greater public access and use of the harbor, and to connect the Village of Port Jefferson to the waterfront by means of a new central village square," said Schwarting. "At the same time, the unsightly and inappropriately located off-street parking would be replaced by structures that would increase the existing parking by 50%, decrease traffic congestion, and improve the environment. As a result, more green space, as well as a safe pedestrian connection from the Village to the waterfront will be created."

The plan, which has evolved over eight years and was sponsored in part by the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District, is anticipated to take 13 months to complete once contracts are finalized. It is represented in the catalog of the "Arcadia/Suburbia: Architecture on Long Island, 1930-2010" exhibition at the Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, N.Y. The exhibit, which runs through April 11, showcases examples of modern architecture on Long Island by Marcel Breuer, Philip Johnson, Frank Lloyd Wright and others, as well as works by NYIT Professor of Architecture Frederick Bentel, Ph.D.

For more information about projects on which Schwarting and Campani have collaborated, visit www.casarchitects.net.

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