Year in Review 2023: New leaders and new Town Hall digs

The Riverhead Town Board voted unanimously in early April to hire J. Petrocelli Contracting Inc. as the “sole and exclusive construction manager” for a new Town Hall at 4 West Second St.

The town acquired that property for $20 million from Peconic Bay Medical Center in 2022 and, at the time, town officials said they planned to move most town offices into the Second Street building, including the town clerk, tax receiver, community development agency, town attorney and council members.

The new Town Hall opened for business Oct. 4, with a ribbon cutting celebrated by nearly 200 community members and local officials.

“Today’s dedication will also commence the process of converting the former town hall into a justice facility adjacent to our police headquarters,” Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said.

The purchase included the bank branch building — formerly occupied by M&T Bank — on the corner of Roanoke Avenue and West Second Street as well as a vacant two-story building on the corner of Second Street and Griffing Avenue and a sizable parking lot with access from Railroad and Roanoke avenues.

“This location and its proximity to downtown is a synergy to a perfect revitalization effort,” Ms. Aguiar said. “Located 500 walking steps from our downtown main street, Town Hall is now the perfect complement to the ongoing downtown revitalization efforts underway.”

Ms. Aguiar listed some of the amenities in the new building.

“Our new Town Hall is located at this beautiful four-level glass and brick building containing approximately 42,000 square feet of floor-to-ceiling windows, flooding the interior with natural light, while affording panoramic vistas of our downtown along with a state-of-the-art boardroom and state-of-the-art great conference room,” she said.

PBMC Foundation chairperson Emilie Roy Corey and former PBMC president and CEO Andrew Mitchell were present at the ceremony as well. Ms. Corey snipped the ceremonial ribbon with Ms. Aguiar.

After the ribbon-cutting, all attendees were invited to tour the building.

Aside from the Town Board room, offices on the first floor include town code enforcement, the assessor, town clerk and tax receiver.

The second floor houses the building department, planning department, purchasing, human resources and community development.

Located on the third floor are the supervisor’s office, Town Board offices, executive conference room, town attorney’s office, accounting office and Information technology office.

The lower level comprises a café marketplace and kitchen, freight entrance, storage and town historian’s office.

In her 2023 State of the Town address on Dec. 4 — her final speech as town supervisor — Ms. Aguiar detailed the ways in which “the foundation has been laid for River- head’s bright future” under her leadership.

One of Ms. Aguiar’s most notable accomplishments — and her proudest, she said — was the new Riverhead Town Hall.

Come January, supervisor-elect Tim Hubbard will sit in the third-floor office. On election night in November, he thanked his family, friends and town employees.

“Our town workers are the backbone of the workforce of the Town of Riverhead,” Mr. Hubbard said. “I can’t thank all of them enough for what they do each and every day. … We’re here because of you and we love to work with you. And we appreciate everything you do every day.”

ORIGINAL REPORTING BY THE NEWS-REVIEW STAFF