Letters

Getting nearly all of Southampton Village to agree on a development project is like herding cats: Either the goal is unattainable, or you’ll drive yourself crazy trying.

Which is just one reason why I and so many others extend a heartfelt “thank you” to David and Simone Levinson for the care and energy they put into restoring the former B&M Automotive garage at the corner of Jobs and Windmill lanes.

While its Art Deco design is atypical for Southampton Village and not everyone’s first choice, it is nonetheless striking and had made the garage an iconic part of the village’s visual landscape for generations.

But the building had begun to show its age in the past couple of decades, and the rotating two or three customer cars in the driveway had become a small collection of slightly rusty, seemingly immobile vehicles in recent years.

The prospect of cleaning up what had become a minor eyesore was, for many, the only silver lining to the sad news three years ago that the previous owner had been granted a demolition permit, in hopes that the right to create a blank slate would bring a buyer. In this market, this would usually have meant sure demolition and redevelopment of the site by a new owner.

But the Levinsons apparently had different ideas. They purchased the property and have lovingly restored and updated the building to once again anchor Jobs Lane, overlooking Agawam Park and the village’s most prominent intersection.

Perhaps the Levinsons are looking for a great financial return. If they are, I hope they get it. But given current septic limitations as well as the effects of COVID-19, such a return is uncertain at best, and the prospects of a financial loss seem equally plausible.

I suspect that financial return was not their primary objective. Rather, they seemed to want to preserve for generations to come a beloved building whose unique design has had an outsized impact on the visual landscape of Southampton Village.

If true, it means that the Levinsons’ investment was nothing less than a gift to the village — and I hope they know how grateful so many of us are.

Rob Coburn

Southampton Village