Builders consider possibilities of two town-owned buildings

A group of developers toured the defunct Second Street firehouse Wednesday, examining the old structure for new uses.

A half-dozen local builders met with town engineers for a pre-bid meeting to hear guidelines for separate proposals concerning that property and the town-owned Eastlawn building.

The Eastlawn building currently houses offices for the Rivehread Chamber of Commerce, the town historian, the Riverhead Community Awareness Program and the Riverhead Housing Development Corp. The property’s deteriorating condition and the available space at the former firehouse, presently used as storage for several town agencies, have officials considering the options.

“They’re looking for something creative and that’s a good use of the building, which makes it kind of a unique process,” Deputy Supervisor Jill Lewis said of the firehouse.

Deputy Town Attorney Anne Marie Prudenti told the meeting’s attendees that the proposals must meet Downtown Center 4 zoning, which permits offices, single-family dwellings, townhouses, places of worship and funeral homes. Special permitted uses are home professional offices, bed-and-breakfast establishments, day-care facilities and nursery schools. Retail stores and personal services are prohibited.

At the site, the potential bidders walked through the two large bays and substantial basement space.

Ike Israel of Richmond Realty said the current zoning makes potential uses “very limited.” He said he and his father were looking at the location purely out of interest at this point.

“It’s a lot to take in, but it would be a very big project,” Israel said.

The town would retain the site’s parking as a municipal lot, said Supervisor Sean Walter. He said he has high hopes for what the space might become.

“I envision maybe some rental apartments, an art gallery, some kind of shop,” Walter said. He urged interested parties not to stifle creative thinking for fear of zoning.

“The zoning shouldn’t worry anyone with a really good idea,” said Walter.

Photo captions, from top: 1. Local builders inspect the old firehouse on Second Street yesterday; 2. The Eastlawn building at 542 East Main St.; 3. The Second Street firehouse; 4. Basement of the firehouse.

RiverheadLOCAL photos 1 and 4 by Micah Danney. File photos 2 & 3 by Peter Blasl

Contact Micah Danney: micah@riverheadlocal.com

Correction: A previously published version of this article omitted the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce from the list of organizations which currently have offices inside the Eastlawn building.