Seatuck and Suffolk County Enter Agreement for Nature Center It's official - Seatuck and Suffolk County are partnering to establish a new nature center at the 70-acre Scully Sanctuary in Islip!

Under the agreement, Seatuck will be the custodians of the property and will operate the future Suffolk County Nature Center on the site.

The Scully Sanctuary lies along South Bay Avenue in the Hamlet of Islip, across the street from the Seatuck National Wildlife Refuge and adjacent to the Islip Town Beach. It contains a diverse mix of habitats, including extensive salt marsh, freshwater wetlands and mature upland forest. It also boasts a 1917 Normandy-style Chateau that was designed by renowned architect Grosvenor Atterbury and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The County has undertaken significant restoration of the building, which will be the focal point of the nature center. Work is expected to be finished in early 2010.

When it is ready, the facility will include exhibits, displays, program areas, a nature library and gift shop, as well as a network of trails and boardwalks that will be open to the public. Seatuck will offer a full schedule of public and private nature programs, including offerings for everyone from pre-school age children and students to families and adults.

The signing of the contract culminates several years of work with the County Department of Parks and the Attorneys Office in revising the more than 60-page Custodial Agreement. Seatuck actually signed an earlier version of the contract in April 2007 before the parties ended up back at the negotiation table. In the end, both sides were confident that they had a document that would successfully govern a productive and mutually beneficial long-term relationship.