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Historic Crescent Farm duck feed silos coming down

By Tim Gannon

Lloyd Corwin, 80, watches as his grandson Blake gingerly tears down the old Purina feeds storage tower which was built from clay tiles and has deteriorated over the years since it was constructed after World War II next to the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
Lloyd Corwin, 80, watches as his grandson Blake gingerly tears down the old Purina feeds storage tower which was built from clay tiles and has deteriorated over the years since it was constructed after World War II next to the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)

The feed silos at the Crescent Duck Farm in Aquebogue are coming down.

The structures were built shortly after World War II by Purina to provide feed for various duck farms in the area, according to Lloyd Corwin.

Feed was delivered by rail at the time, he said. But over time, the Purina sign simply fell off the silo.

“We can’t remember when it came down,” said his son Jeff.

“The silos haven’t been used since the early 1960s and they’ve been slowly falling down,” said Doug, another of Lloyd’s sons, who is now president of Crescent Duck Farm.

The silos were further damaged in Hurricane Sandy, he said.

The silos aren’t coming down implosion-stye but rather, piece by piece by the Corwins.

It had heavy motors and gear boxes at the top of it that presented a danger as the structures weakened, and it has a feed elevator in the middle. Those had been removed by Wednesday morning.

Doug Corwin said they’ve had a demolition permit for more than a year and finally decided to begin taking the silos down.

“I hate to see it go, but I don’t want to see anybody get hurt,” Doug Corwin said.

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