Anyone remember the LIDC (Long Island Developmental Center)?

Once upon a time, I was riding my bike through the woods in Melville, and found a building covered in vines, and there was broken glass everywhere, fields of tall grass, and, to me it felt like I had discovered some ancient ruins of a lost civilzation. So I promptly got the squad together, we got all decked out in our gear, and we explored the whole building.

This place was such a big part of my childhood, and although I know it is gone, there are days I still think about this asbestos ridden, cinderblock complex full of rusted metal and debris, 1970's era furniture, and empty parking lots over grown with weeds.

As we got older, in middle school, we'd organize meet ups there, play freeze tag, manhunt, and set up the furniture in the old gym, and hang out. Our favorite building was the far back one in the woods, where the police never came to kick us out.

In high school, we would occasionaly meet other errant bands of teenagers from all over Long Island, exchange tokes on the peace pipe in the gym, tell of our lore from our lives in our cities and schools, and have an occasional campfire. There was a code then. Keep this place for the next group as a place to come. It was our refuge away from society, where things felt haunted by its past, but yet we were all coming of age there, exploring the main hospital, the side buildings, and the flooded tunnels...

I was actually sad when I heard it was demolished for old folks homes, and I felt like that part of my wild suburban childhood was gone forever and only memories were left. I tell my kids stories of growing up exploring abandoned asylums, and they just don't believe me... We are so different and have such different lives as children, it is hard to explain.

Did anyone else here explore the LIDC? Maybe we crossed paths in the ruins?