East Hampton Bowl Roof Collapses, Building May Be Demolished

East Hampton Bowl on Montauk Highway in East Hampton Village may soon be torn down.

The former bowling alley, which closed in 2013, suffered a roof collapse last week, as the structure was unable to support the accumulation of more than 2 feet of snow that hit the area.

No one was inside the building at the time of the cave-in, said East Hampton Village Mayor Paul Rickenbach, and all utilities for the vacant building have since been shut off to guard against “fires or any other type of emergency event,” he said.

“The structure is old and has one of those truss roofs,” Mr. Rickenbach explained, “It just wasn’t able to support the additional weight of the snow.”

East Hampton Village Chief Building Inspector Ken Collum said the building could be demolished, pending a further evaluation by the building owner’s engineer. “I’m not sure if a decision has been made yet,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything back from them yet, but we’ll see what they decide.”

The building is owned by 71 Montauk Highway LLC, which is contemplating a teardown in favor of a new building, as opposed to fixing the damage done by the snow, Mr. Collum said. “They’re going through the Zoning Board of Appeals and the [Design Review Board] to get approval to see what the possibilities are,” he said, “but I think eventually they’re looking to remove it and construct something new.”

Mr. Collum said the lot is zoned commercial and could be home to office or retail space, a restaurant, or other conforming uses, but he has not heard of any plans for the lot.

“It’s a big secret,” he laughed. “But no demolition permit has been filed yet, so we’ll see.”

Prior to the LLC’s ownership, East Hampton Bowl was owned by Craig Patterson and his wife, Pat, who decided to close the bowling alley because it became too expensive to run the business.

“The engineers will make an assessment and a determination,” said Mayor Rickenbach of a possible demolition, “but the village will certainly do its due diligence to work with the new owners to determine its future.”