The state legislature has passed a measure that would expand Nissequogue River State Park to include the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center property and require a master plan for future development.

The bill sponsored by Sen. John Flanagan and Assemblyman Steve Englebright, adds the 365-acre psych center property to the 155-acre Nissequogue River State Park. It also would require the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation prepare a master plan that would “present a series of preferred alternatives for the future development and use” of the park. The legislation must still be signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo for final approval.

Targeted for development in the past, the sprawling former psych center site was transferred to the jurisdiction of state parks in 2006. Though a small portion of its crumbling brick buildings have been demolished, the property remains largely untouched since the center closed more than 20 years ago.

As it did with two other Long Island psychiatric centers, in Central Islip and Brentwood, the state has sought to sell most of the remaining acreage at Kings Park and derive some economic development from the remaining 365 acres. In 2001 and 2004, the state issued requests for proposals to redevelop the psych center. Though two mixed-use proposals were chosen, each was doomed by community opposition and lost the support of local elected officials.

In 2017, the state Department of Environmental Conservation unveiled its plans to build a 25,000-square foot building at Nissequogue River State Park that would serve as the headquarters for DEC’s Division of Marine Resources. The proposed headquarters would house DEC’s bureaus of marine fisheries, marine habitat, shellfisheries, and oceans program, in addition to the Marine Enforcement Unit.