State Earmarks $2 Million for Bridgehampton Childcare Center Pre-K and Montauk Playhouse Cultural Center

New York State will direct $1.7 million in capital funding to the Montauk Playhouse to help fund the creation of new multi-use and cultural spaces as part of the second phase of the expansion project that is due to kick off early next year with the construction of a new swimming pool and aquatic center.

The funding, which was announced by Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., will come in the form of a State and Municipal Facilities Grant. The money is earmarked for the “Phase II” work on the second floor of the northern wing of the playhouse, above the aquatic center.

The conceptual plans for the second floor call for a flexible, modular space capable of being adapted to events of various sizes, from community meetings to public conferences to artistic performances.

“We’re thrilled to receive this generous funding from New York State in support of our mission to complete the historic Montauk Playhouse Community Center,” Sarah Iudicone, president of the Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation, said in a statement following Thiele’s announcement. “As our construction plans for the phase one first floor Aquatic Center move forward, our fundraising campaign continues for the phase two second floor multi-use Cultural Center — so the timing is ideal. Combined with the $5 million commitment from the Town of East Hampton, our public partner in this project, this funding will allow us to move forward even more expeditiously.”

The foundation is currently awaiting bids for the aquatic center work, which are expected later this month, and will dictate the time frame for the next phase of the upgrades, a foundation spokesperson said.

Thiele announced the grant while hosting State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for a tour of the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center and the Wölffer Estates Vineyard last Wednesday, October 25.

Thiele also announced that the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center will be receiving a grant of $250,000 to fund renovations to one of its buildings that will host the center’s new pre-K program.

The center will start pre-K in 2024, in the wake of the departure of Head Start, the national early-learning program, which had used the center’s Youth Building since the 1960s. But the group announced that it would close the program this year because of difficulties in maintaining adequate staffing on the South Fork.

“They couldn’t get enough people to work out here,” the center’s executive director, Bonnie Cannon, said. “They don’t pay enough and their people were coming from all the way up west and they just couldn’t get enough people to come out here.”

The center, which provides after-school and summer camp programs to children from marginalized and minority communities throughout the East End, recently cut the ribbon on a sweeping new renovation and expansion of its main building — also funded in part by a SAM grant from the state.

The prekindergarten program, for children ages 3 to 5, will begin by the fall of 2024.

“With Head Start leaving, we are going to do our own thing, which actually will allow us to service more kids so we think it will be a very good thing for everybody,” Cannon said. “I’m hoping we’ll have at least 25 to 30 kids, and we’ll grow from there. It’s a very important program, and it fits right in with what our mission is here at the center, so we’re really looking forward to getting that started and we’re thankful to the state for this funding to help with that.”