3 Photos
Probably time to take the sign down announcing the not-new home of the Westhampton Community Center. TOM GOGOLA
Mill Road site of proposed new location for Westhampton Community Center includes a Parks Department building. TOM GOGOLA
A family of dumpsters awaits its fate at the Mill Road site of a proposed Westhampton Community Center. TOM GOGOLA
During its Tuesday night meeting this week, the Southampton Town Board voted to transfer $400,000 from its capital budget that had been earmarked to develop the town-owned former auto dealership and restaurant on Old Riverhead Road into a long-awaited Westhampton Community Center.
The board also voted to reallocate a $750,000 grant the town received via the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
The town has decided to transfer that funding “to a new community center that would be designed to better meet the needs of the town,” according to a resolution passed by the board during the March 26 meeting. The $1.15 million reallocation will go toward the design and construction of a new community center at 393 Mill Road.
The Town Board signaled its intention to shift to the new location next to the Westhampton Beach Elementary School earlier this year when it canceled a bidding process to redevelop the 112 Old Riverhead Road site even after the town had identified numerous vendors to do the work.
For example, the company Norco was recommended for the general construction following a review of the bids by the engineering consulting firm Savik & Murray that determined its $2.1 million bid was the lowest received.
That bid was part of a packet of materials that The Southampton Press submitted a Freedom of Information Law to access.
The packet highlights what town officials have been saying about the 112 Riverhead Road site: It needed a lot of work for a proper transformation into a mixed-use facility for seniors, youth, the local American Legion and town satellite offices.
The town was looking at $4.5 million in bond authorizations at a minimum to renovate and repurpose that building before it bailed out on the site.
Town officials have meanwhile worked up a general design scheme for the proposed new community center, which would be built on property that contains both Community Preservation Fund and town-purchased parcels. The town bought the parcels at the same time in 2008 for $3 million from the Bauer Family Trust and Matilda Bauer with the intention of building a community center and pool there.
The proposal would see a total of 10,000 square feet of new construction split between two wings of an L-shaped building, or two entirely separate buildings, with a senior center and community services part occupying one wing and the recreation-focused part of the center occupying the other. The senior wing would come with 34 parking spots, while the youth- and recreation-focused area would deliver 62 new parking spaces.
The 4,000-square-foot senior center would be built on the town-owned parcel and straddle the CPF dividing line, while the remaining three CPF owned lots would be utilized for buildings or activities that are aligned with CPF law. Those would host passive recreational activities, which are permitted under CPF guidelines. New bocce courts are featured on the design along with a walking trail. A parks department maintenance building would remain on the site.
A greenhouse and planter box area adjacent to the school will continue to be utilized by students.
The proposed facility comes with an $8.5 million price tag, non-inclusive of the $3 million it paid for the parcels in 2008.
The town has been mum on the fate of the 112 Old Riverhead Road building, which was purchased by the town for $4.1 million in 2019 under a plan spearheaded by former Town Councilman John Bouvier.
Town Attorney James Burke said early in March that the town has done an appraisal of the site, but couldn’t share that info given the ongoing negotiations. “Certainly, we will be more than happy to share when and if the town sells the property,” he said via email.
