Floating fire pits may light up Grangebel Park

Floating fire pits will light up the Peconic River in Grangebel Park next year if a plan being advanced by the East End Tourism Alliance and the Riverhead Business Improvement District Management Association takes off.

East End Tourism Alliance cofounder Bryan DeLuca and BIDMA president Raymond Pickersgill pitched the idea to the town board at yesterday’s work session.

“River Fire” would be modeled after the successful “WaterFire” in Providence Rhode Island.

“It has been a tremendous success in Providence,” said DeLuca, who is also the executive director of the L.I. Aquarium. An economic study has shown WaterFire has generated $55 million in revenue, DeLuca told the board. Other towns and cities around the country have emulated it, DeLuca said.

“It would be the only one on Long Island and an absolute tourist attraction,” DeLuca said.

The fiery public art installation would draw visitors to the newly renovated but underutilized park on the west side of Peconic Avenue. It is hoped that other activities, such as concerts and fire dancers, would complement the fire pits.

The Providence installation has 90 fire pits, called braziers. The city hosts WaterFire programs “almost once a month,” DeLuca said.

DeLuca and Pickersgill would like Riverhead’s fire pits to be “artisan fire pits” designed by local artists. They said East End Arts will have a contest to choose the winning designs.

The BID had “a prototype” made at a cost of $1,000, Pickersgill said. “The guy said he’d make the others for $600 each,” he said.

The initial installation in Grangebel Park would consist of “10 or 20” fire pits. They would burn ordinary cord wood and would be lit several times over he course of the season, DeLuca said. They would be moored and could be left in the water when not in use, DeLuca said. Additional fire pits would be eventually purchased for the river behind East Main Street, he said. Those would be removed between displays.

DeLuca said he’d also like the town to install fire pits on land along the river. They would also be lit during River Fire events.

He said he spoke with N.Y. state Department of Environmental Conservation regional director Peter Scully about the idea and Scully told him “he doesn’t see any problem” gaining DEC approval for the installation.

DeLuca and Pickersgill asked the town board to authorize Riverhead Community Development Agency director Christine Kempner to prepare grant applications to the National Endowment for the Arts and the N.Y. State Cultural Arts agency, seeking funding for the installation. Board members agreed to the request.

Councilman John Dunleavy expressed concerns about safety and said he wanted to ask the fire marshal to review the idea.

In Providence, the installation is run by a nonprofit organization called “WaterFire Providence,” which describes itself as “an independent, non-profit arts organization whose mission is to inspire Providence and its visitors by revitalizing the urban experience, fostering community engagement and creatively transforming the city by presenting WaterFire for all to enjoy,” according to the group’s website.