Agriculture

Could $700K help bring ‘ag center’ to downtown Riverhead?

The notice described the pending sale to Mr. Castaldi as “a waste of town assets and illegal and unconstitutional gift of town assets without proper consideration and in violation of lawful procedure.”

Despite some concerns, town residents as a whole had the chance to stop the sale by forcing a referendum on the issue. But no petitions calling for a referendum were received by the town.

The looming sale of the firehouse means the decision whether to follow through with the county’s vision of an agritourism center that “will draw visitors to Riverhead’s downtown shopping district” ultimately may not be up to the town.

With the budding downtown farmers market slated to be the cornerstone of the visitors center, Riverhead Business Improvement District president Ray Pickersgill, one of the active forces behind the market’s success, said he’s not so sure moving it from Main Street would helpful to the downtown district — or to the farmers who use the affordable retail space.

Currently, he said, vendors at the market — which draws about 1,000 people downtown each weekend — pay $17 a day to participate, with about 39 vendors selling goods on Saturdays and about 30 on Sundays.

That’s a price that isn’t meant to make money for the BID, although the organization usually breaks even by the end of each winter season. So, Mr. Pickersgill said, he isn’t quite sure how it could translate into a money-maker for someone in the private sector.

In July, Mr. Castaldi also questioned its potential. While the market has been successful on Saturdays, he said it’s unclear whether that would continue if it expanded to several days a week.

MarketCalling Riverhead the gateway to Long Island’s twin forks, Mr. Castaldi said he envisions the agritourism center as a starting point for visitors, a place people could stop for maps and information before moving on to the wineries and a growing array of breweries.

“They can take off from here and maybe come back and have dinner or stay at one of the hotels,” he said. “It would really put the spotlight on Riverhead.”

Mr. Ruckdeschel, who worked with Riverhead Town to secure the grant funding, said that while Suffolk County’s farmers “are the most innovative farmers in the country when it comes to the creative entertainment and educational opportunities available on their farms,” the county believes those activities are under-marketed .

“We need to remind both local and out-of-state vacationers that Suffolk County has a rich agricultural heritage that we want to share with the world,” he said. “An agritourism visitors center is our ambitious attempt to reward local farmers for their creative efforts and to drive additional consumers to the wonderful farm stands, vineyard tasting rooms and U-pick farms that fuel East End economic development.”

Ms. Kempner said that if Mr. Castaldi should decide not to move forward with plans for the center, the town would look for alternate locations to see the project fulfilled.

Caption: Riverhead Farmers Market organizer Holly Browder and Riverhead BID president discuss plans for the indoor Riverhead Farmers Market.