Construction of Riverside Head Start project delayed another year

A new beginning for Head Start in Riverside may be another year away. 

Over a year ago, Long Island Head Start leaders rejoiced over a surprise $2.25 million state funding commitment from Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni to get plans rolling for its estimated $4 million effort to build a state-of-the-art, modular facility at 77 Goodridge Ave. in Riverside.

The target date for the groundbreaking for the new Riverside center was originally eyed for this fall. However, the anticipated timeline has slipped, with Head Start officials now pushing for fall 2027. 

“That’s being optimistic too,” Yvonne Green, director of human resources and facilities for Long Island Head Start, told the Riverhead News-Review last month. “There’s a lot of steps in the process.” 

Over the past year, LI Head Start has made progress in the early planning and site-preparation stages. This includes the demolition of an existing 2012 building on the property earlier this year, as well as completed preliminary soil and environmental testing. 

However, a couple of months ago, Ms. Green said they hit a snag that is stalling construction. 

LI Head Start received preliminary plans, which includes a less than 9,000 square-foot modular building by Aries Building Systems, LLC. They got the greenlight on the building size, but it can only be approved if the maximum capacity is 90 people due to constraints with the current septic system on the site. 

During a meeting with the county health department, the team learned it would need to confirm its maximum occupancy, so the septic system is designed accordingly. When the final plans are complete, the next step is getting approval from Southampton Town, which is currently working on a $44 million sewer district plan for Riverside. 

Once final plans are ready, LI Head Start can begin to get estimates from potential vendors for work on the parking lot, playground and the electrical system. 

“We would be looking to connect, so we were hoping we didn’t have to do anything with the sewer system, and we could just connect to the sewer line,” Ms. Green said. “But, if we want to open with more than 90 persons, we will need to upgrade the sewer system.” 

Annette Harris, director of program operations, said the ideal occupancy would be roughly 115, which includes around 20 staff members. Ms. Harris said for now, LI Head Start will try to navigate the limited 90-person occupancy for Riverside with a conventional system until they are hooked up to the upgraded sewer. 

“We would probably be a little bit under enrolled, which would hurt the community, Ms. Harris said. “We really do still want to provide those services for those families who desperately need us, and it’s been a few years since we’ve been on that side of town.” 

Launching its first center in Suffolk County in 1966, Long Island Head Start operates 18 facilities throughout the county, as well as four Early Head Start locations. The Riverside location would be the fifth to open on the East End, joining the North Fork, Riverhead, Bridgehampton and Southampton centers.

Southampton Head Start opened in 1992 at 271 Flanders Road in Riverhead with five classrooms, office space and a large multipurpose room, and served up to 100 children. The town leased the organization the building for $1 a month. A couple of years later, Long Island Head Start purchased the Goodridge Avenue property in Riverside and opened it as a satellite site to Southampton to address the growing needs of families in the Riverhead community.

The original Riverside Head Start closed in 2012, and that same year, Riverhead Head Start expanded into a rental building at St. John Place to accommodate 104 children in five classrooms.

Southampton Head Start was forced to close for the 2024-25 school year, displacing 88 children, including 55 in the universal pre-kindergarten program. During attempted renovations, Southampton Town identified structural damages, such as mold in the walls and beams detached from the building’s foundation and deemed the facility no longer serviceable. 

“It was a huge loss when the town of Southampton had to condemn the building,” Mr. Schiavoni told the Riverhead News-Review in a roundtable interview ahead of Election Day. 

For the first year after being displaced, the children were being housed in the basement of Riverhead Head Start, inside the St. John the Evangelist R.C. Church. This year, the church agreed to extend the rental space agreement for another 10 months. 

After that expires, Long Island Head Start will need a temporary space for the 88 children who were attending Southampton Head Start until the new Riverside location is completed.

The demolition of the 2012 building cost nearly $60,000, and the pre-construction, design and engineering phase prices at around $400,000, which includes the testing. 

Other costs in the estimated budget breakdown include $2.85 million for the new modular building, $275,000 for the spacious ADA-compliant parking lot, $225,000 for an inclusive developmentally rich playground and $190,000 for sustainable landscaping to encourage outdoor learning.

In addition to Mr. Schiavoni’s $2.25 million commitment and the $200,000 from Power Home Remodeling that will help cover the demo and pre-construction costs, Long Island Head Start applied for $2.3 million in HUD funds in April 2025 through congressional spending request to Senator Chuck Schumer’s office. 

Southampton Town also approved a $6,000 community block grant to help cover temporary rental costs, but the paperwork is still pending. 

Diane Eppolito, director of quality assurance for Long Island Head Start, explained once they have total project estimates, she can prepare a preliminary application for Mr. Schiavoni to submit to New York State Ways and Means. 

If approved, it goes through the state’s Dormitory Unit vetting process, where all state grant applications go through. The grant is reimbursable, so funds are paid back as eligible work is completed. 

Even with approvals for state grants, Ms. Harris stressed that community fundraising and support is crucial to get this Riverside facility off the ground. Head Start remains flat funded, and there will be no additional funding amid rising costs and inflation for 2027. 

“It’s tough,” she said. “We really don’t have any additional monies in our budget for it, so we’re going to have to rely on the kindness of others to see the value of what we do in order to make sure that we can pay for the increase because of inflation on this project.” 

Ms. Eppolito said the average poverty rate for Suffolk County is approximately 7%. To break those figures down further, she said Riverhead’s average is about 10%, while Riverside is over three times the county average at 26%. Most of the children and families that Long Island Head Start assists are those experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, childcare and early education issues.

Riverside Head Start’s proposed full commercial kitchen would offer breakfast, lunch, and snack daily — not just for the children enrolled at this location, but for Riverhead and Bridgehampton as well.

“Our program is not just a childcare program, our program is a holistic program, we work with the entire family and child,” Ms. Eppolito said. “We provide a whole gamut of other services to our families that a regular daycare would not do, so it really is important that we continue to provide service in this community.”