Will town salvage building department offices after fires, or build anew?

Riverhead Town’s building department headquarters, which was damaged by fires in April, would have to be demolished if the town decides to replace it with a two-story structure, town officials said Thursday.
The foundation and exterior of the Howell Avenue building across the street from Town Hall could be saved only if the town decided to rebuild it as a one-story building, said Dave Cullen, an aide to Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter.
Architect Chuck Thomas, whose wife is town attorney Dawn Thomas, has donated his services to draw plans for a possible new building department headquarters. Those plans will be used to determine whether to rebuild the office as a one- or two-story building, said building department head Leroy Barnes.
The building department is running out of a temporary office at nearby
755 East Main Street. Not all department files, some of which were damaged by smoke, have
been retrieved from the vacated building, but they will be available in
a few months, Mr. Barnes said.
TIM GANNON