Town mulls plan for building department

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO
Riverhead’s building department headquarters on Howell Avenue may be rebuilt, or else razed to make way for a two-story building.

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.

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 structure, Dave Cullen, an aide to Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter, said last week.

Architect Chuck Thomas, whose wife is town attorney Dawn Thomas, has committed to donated his services to draw plans that will be used to determine whether to rebuild the office as a one- or two-story building, said Leroy Barnes, who heads the building department.

The department is being run 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