Town Square plan requires moving two EEAC buildings

Riverhead town officials, in their mission to transform the downtown area for the future, are also keen to preserve some of Main Street’s history. Later this year, two historic buildings — centerpieces of the East End Arts Council campus that sit back and below the sidewalk — will be uprooted and relocated. In the process of doing so, they will be brought up to street level and subsequently positioned as a significant part of the new Town Square. 

Currently in the “bathtub” of the campus, the Benjamin House at 141 Main St., predating 1870, and the even older 1840s Davis Corwin house at 133 Main St. are slated to be repositioned and elevated to meet the sidewalk on Main Street. Right now, visitors have to walk down several steps to access the buildings that are about 10 feet from the sidewalk in the upper Town Square.

For Wendy Weiss, executive director of EEAC, this means moving their operations while trying to mitigate the disruption to the organization and their activities and exhibits.

“We’re in constant contact with the town, and the move is projected to happen in mid-fall or later this year,” she said.

EEAC is working with Riverhead officials to move the school to 206 Griffing Ave. and is actively seeking temporary space for their fine art gallery.

“Hopefully it won’t be long before we can move back into our newly designed campus,” Ms. Weiss said. She added that the carriage house will be rotated 180 degrees and settled behind the school at 141 East Main St. 

Plans for the summer exhibition, “DETOUR,” in June, July and August are moving forward, as is another exhibition slated for September.

“We plan to move after that,” Ms. Weiss said. “It will be complicated because of the logistics, and EEAC has a relocation committee which consists of both board members and interested community members to help. We are collectively trying to keep the perspective that this is an opportunity that ultimately moves the organization forward in a positive way.”

This project has been on the drawing board for five years, and the Town is looking to firm up the funding for the two-building move.

“Right now, we have partial funding, but we have enough to get started,” said Dawn Thomas, director of Riverhead’s Community Development Agency.

She added that the total cost will be based on the final design, which is still up in the air. 1.4 million dollars was provided by the New York State Empire State Development agency. “We’re moving forward with qualifying a sponsor,” said Ms. Thomas.

As part of the plan to make the buildings flood resilient, they will be lifted up to street level with fill from the excavation and construction of the 72-room boutique hotel, and the grass around them will be regraded.

“The buildings need to be moved out of the flood plain. They’re at risk where they are now,” said Ms. Thomas. “The good news is that they will have new, sturdier and stronger foundations and more basement space for storage.”  

To preserve it, the 1821 barn-red Fresh Pond schoolhouse, moved 48 years ago to downtown Riverhead from Sound Avenue, will have to be relocated again on the site. Once all the shifting of buildings ends, a sculpture garden will go up in the reorganized outdoor space.

Historian Richard Wines, who chairs the Riverhead Landmarks Preservation Commission, said his organization feels bringing the two buildings up to street level is a positive move.

“It’s good thing for their long-time preservation,” he said.

He added that both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Preservation as well as the Downtown Riverhead Historic District.

“Moving buildings around these days is very gentle. It’s a slow process; they’ll jack them up one inch at a time. They’ll be put down on a new level foundation, more level than the old foundations, which are a bit rickety,” said Mr. Wines.

In the old days, Mr. Wines continued, people used to live in the buildings while they were moved: “That doesn’t work so well now because buildings have plumbing in them!”

Ms. Weiss emphasized how this change will bring EEAC more visibility and access.

“It needs to happen,” she said. “It’s a good opportunity for East End Arts. I think our community will be supportive in bringing everyone together downtown.”