Town breathes new life into historic East Quogue building

The Town of Southampton is breathing new life into a historic building in East Quogue.
The Tiana Life-Saving Station was the second Coast Guard station in the country to be manned by an all African-American crew.
The crew answered the call to duty shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The all African-American crew was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's effort to integrate minorities into the military.
Between 1942 and 1944, the crew, including its commander, Chief Petty Officer Cecil R. Foster, protected the island's shores against enemy attack.

After the war, Tiana station was abandoned in 1946 and later transformed into a beach club under a variety of names, the latest being the Neptune Beach Club.
The music stopped for Neptune in 2013 when the Town of Southampton purchased the land for $3.2 million.
The town's goal was to restore the building as a museum to honor the Tiana's life-saving crews.

Architect Benjamin Chaleff took on the project of bringing the Tiana back to its former glory.

During his process, Chaleff was guided by Tiana's blueprints as well as original specifications for the building. He also used the Tiana's sister station on Dune Road as a point of reference.
Those tools helped Chaleff bring the exterior of the Tiana back to life.

The museum is scheduled to be opened in the summer of 2021.
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