Town Board Votes To Buy Former Manhattan Motorcars Building For Community Center in Westhampton - 27 East
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Town Board Votes To Buy Former Manhattan Motorcars Building For Community Center in Westhampton

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The Southampton Town Board voted on Tuesday to purchase the building located at 112 Old Riverhead Road in Westhamtpon for $4 million for use as a community center. DANA SHAW

The Southampton Town Board voted on Tuesday to purchase the building located at 112 Old Riverhead Road in Westhamtpon for $4 million for use as a community center. DANA SHAW

Kitty Merrill on Sep 9, 2020

Southampton Town Councilman John Bouvier was “very excited” on Tuesday, and with good reason. After years of trying to find a site for a community center in Westhampton, his search reached fruition on Tuesday afternoon, when the Southampton Town Board voted to purchase the building located at 112 Old Riverhead Road for $4 million.

Once home to a Manhattan Motorcars of the Hamptons, a luxury car dealership, and Annona Restaurant, the structure is approximately 22,000 square feet, and boasts three floors, elevators, a glass rotunda and 60 parking spaces. Mr. Bouvier estimated it would cost $25 million to build a similar structure during a July visit to the site.

Announcing the purchase Tuesday, Councilman Bouvier lauded its central location — “near the school, the village, and with plenty of space, with room to grow.”

It has geothermal heating, a flat roof that could accommodate solar panels, and has the potential to be connected to the sewage treatment plant at the nearby Francis S. Gabreski Airport. “All the infrastructure is in place,” the councilman enthused during a tour of the site earlier this summer. Everything for a kitchen except appliances are already in the building, he informed, anticipating the town might spend $500,000 on renovations beyond those the landlord will undertake.

A kitchen could be key. Last summer, with the old community center shuttered since 2015, Mr. Bouvier initiated a partnership with the Westhampton Beach Library to bring the senior lunch program to the area. Before that, seniors had to travel to the community centers in Hampton Bays, Flanders, or Bridgehampton to participate in lunch programs.

“The senior lunch program is very popular,” Mr. Bouvier said, “And we wanted to make sure that the residents in this part of the town could participate.”

“Now they will have their own community center,” he continued. “I see so many possibilities … for our seniors, our youth. It’s going to be a great asset for our community.”

The old community center, located next to the post office and 7-Eleven on Mill Road was condemned in 2015, and sat vacant for years. Town officials considered restoring the 2,640-square-foot building, but its extreme state of disrepair led them to agree that the building needed to either be sold as is or torn down. When attempts by town officials to auction it off failed, in 2019, the board voted to demolish the eyesore.

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