New Westhampton Community Center To Be Built At Gabreski Business Park

Preliminary discussions are underway between local lawmakers and representatives from Rechler Equity Partners, a real estate and construction development company, that is building and operating the Hampton Business District at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton, to construct a new community center for Westhampton at the park.

Southampton Town Councilman John Bouvier has been spearheading the effort, along with Craig Catalanotto, co-chairman of CAC-West, the citizen’s advisory committee representing Westhampton, Speonk, Remsenburg, Eastport and Quogue.

Mr. Bouvier has been pushing for a new community center for the past few years and began initial consultations with Rechler representatives about three months ago.

“They wanted to build a daycare center, and while there’s a need for that, there’s also a need for people to have a place to meet, and a place for seniors. So we said, ‘Let’s do a center that serves the entire community,’” Mr. Bouvier said.

According to Mr. Catalanotto, who met with representatives from Rechler earlier this month, the Plainview-based real-estate company, owned by cousins Mitchell and Gregg Rechler, plans to work with the town to build a center, which is expected to be 4,000 to 5,000 square feet, on the northern edge of the business park.

“They’ve asked us to submit a ‘wish list’ in terms of what the facility will need to accommodate the various groups that may use the center,” Mr. Catalanotto said. “We hope to meet with the Rechler group again next month and submit our findings, then possibly discuss sitting with an architect to come up with some conceptual designs.”

Mr. Catalanotto is in discussions with local youth and senior groups to gauge their interest in using the center and to see what facilities they would want in the new building, which he said he hopes will be a “comparable facility” to the David W. Crohan Community Center in Flanders.

If plans are approved, the center would replace the old Westhampton Community Center, which is riddled with asbestos and sits vacant at 406 Mill Road, next to the post office and 7-Eleven. The town had tried to auction off the 2,640-square-foot structure, which had a starting bid of $540,000, last June, but no one put in any bids.

Now, the unused property may soon be torn down. According to Mr. Bouvier, bids are out for the building’s demolition, although he did not know the status of those bids.

The Rechlers construction of a new community center would save the town an estimated $3.5 million to $5 million in construction costs, which were calculated by the town about 15 years ago, when initial discussions for a new community center began.

Once the new center is completed, the town would lease the space from the Rechlers, although a cost has not yet been determined.

Representatives of the Rechlers, who manage the 50-acre business park, which is expected to house nine buildings when completed, did not immediately return calls this week. But Mr. Bouvier said “they’re on board,” and that they want to “strike while the iron is hot.”

The first building designs are expected to be sketched next week, when Mr. Bouvier meets with Rechler architect. Mr. Bouvier, who hopes the center will be completed in the next two years, said he would be asking for the construction of bathrooms, a small kitchen and an outside playground at the center.

“I’ve wanted to establish a community center for a while now, but I wanted it to grow organically and come from the community as a need—and it is certainly needed,” Mr. Bouvier said. “Now, we’re off and running.”