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Southampton Village officials want Stony Brook Southampton to stay open, but if the college does not, they have one request: Give the village back its windmill.
The desire has surfaced in years past—mostly during previous periods of uncertainty about the campus’s fate, including earlier this decade when Long Island University sold the Shinnecock Hills campus—but this time around, the village will formalize its request in writing.
Mayor Mark Epley said Village Trustee Paul Robinson will draft a letter this week to Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D. Should the campus close completely, the village would like to have its windmill, now located on the campus, returned east before the property is sold to developers, the mayor explained in a phone interview on Tuesday.
“If the college is there, the windmill should stay there, because it’s a focal point for the university,” Mr. Epley said, adding that the village’s top priority is still to have the campus be used as an educational institution.
The stately, centuries-old windmill originally stood at what is now the intersection of Windmill Lane—which was named after it—and Hill Street in the village. It was moved to its current Shinnecock Hills location in the late 1800s. In latter decades, it has served as a quaint backdrop to the 82-acre campus of first Southampton College and then Stony Brook Southampton.
Mr. Robinson broached the topic of the windmill’s return during closing comments by Village Board members at their meeting last Wednesday, November 10.
“With all the news about the college maybe going ‘poof’ and the potential development up there, one of the things that goes through my mind is this beautiful windmill that really belongs in the downtown area,” Mr. Robinson told the board. “Hopefully, the college will remain forever and ever,” he added, before saying the historical mill would look great at the intersection of Nugent Street and Windmill Lane.
“That windmill at that corner would be absolutely spectacular,” agreed Trustee Nancy McGann, who, along with Mr. Robinson, voiced great enthusiasm over the idea.
Ms. McGann noted, however, that although that corner would be an ideal spot, and photographs with the windmill superimposed there show that it would fit, the intersection is still undergoing some drainage improvement plans at the moment.
New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. of Sag Harbor, an alumus of Southampton College and supporter of the Stony Brook Southampton campus, said in a phone interview on Tuesday morning that he views the windmill as an integral part of the campus, though he understands the village’s perspective.
“I expect that property to continue to be used for higher education, and I don’t see it being moved. I see it being part of whatever the future of the college is for a long time,” he said, noting that the mill was refurbished in recent years and a lot of the money that went into the project came from private donations from alumni.
“Obviously, I’m committed to making sure this never happens—but if for some reason there wasn’t a college there, I certainly would want to see the windmill preserved, and I understand the interest that the village would have. But at this point, our focus is on reopening the college and having that windmill be part of the college.”
Stony Brook University slashed funding at the campus last spring, stripping the Southampton satellite school of most of its academic programs and facilities. Mr. Thiele is among the officials at the forefront of restoring the college.
