New & Improved Long Island Science Center on the Way
Town Won’t Pursue Eminent Domain on Property
By Hank Russell
Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard and members of the Town Board held a joint press conference with representatives from the Long Island Science Center (LISC) on May 19 as they announced plans for a revitalized science center to be part of the town’s “family-friendly destination” concept for Riverhead’s Town Square design.
“The sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day in Riverhead,” Hubbard said.
From conception, the Town Square design has always revolved around creating a regional family-friendly destination that would serve as a logical extension of other area amenities geared towards families, and the Science Center has always been part of that equation.
“Despite having endured periods of uncertainty,” Hubbard said, “recent efforts by the Science Center to engage a design professional to develop a feasible, fundable and phased plan that focuses on addressing the most glaring issues in the existing building and allows them to open as soon as possible with the ability to phase in the most expensive components of the overall project when funding becomes available, has resulted in a satisfactory plan for the Science Center that resolves the issues related to the flooding of the building.”
The town has chosen DXA Studio to design the new Science Center. Jordan Rogove, a partner with the firm, said the new LISC will be developed in two phases. The first phase will be making structural improvements to “stabilize the building” and the second phase “will address more deep-seated issues.”
According to Rogove, once the project is completed, the building will be an estimated 36,000 square feet. Some of the amenities will include a 150-seat planetarium, and a second story featuring an event space and a museum. It is expected to open in the fall. Once completed, the LISC will move from its current Tanger Outlet Mall location.
Hubbard also announced that, as a result of these efforts, the Town Board intends to halt plans to acquire the property through eminent domain for the premises at 111 E. Main Street and plans to vote to cancel the public hearing currently scheduled for the Town Board meeting on May 21. The announcement was greeted with cheers from local residents who attended the press conference.
“They’ve put this thing together rather quickly,” Town Councilman Bob Kerm said of the LISC.
LISC Board Member Christine Kempner said the new center will be funded from different sources. Suffolk County granted LISC with $1 million through the Jump SMART program, and the state provided grants in the amount of $775,000 from the Empire State Development, $1.23 million from New York State Market NY and $492,000 from the NYS Council of the Arts. She also said that the LISC will receive a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“We’ve gotten a tremendous amount of support,” Kempner said.
Councilman Kenneth Rothwell said it was “an exciting day for Riverhead.”
However, some were skeptical. Mark Woolley, a Democrat town board candidate who previously worked as a staffer for then-U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin and current Congressman Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), and who urged the town board to demolish the shuttered Swezey’s Building on East Main Street, called the press conference “a big victory for the residents of Riverhead.”
He said that, while he supported the project, he noted that this project “has been in the works since 2018” and that the town board decided to have this press conference and expedite the project because it is an election year.
“The real issue here is the master developer,” said Ron Hariri, an attorney and activist, of Petrocelli. “They’ve never been vetted.” He added that he is “concerned” that the town’s “family and friends” will develop on property owned by taxpayers, without the due diligence required to vet a prospective developer.
Hariri also sent in a FOIL request to the Riverhead Community Development Agency to determine if the vetting of Petrocelli was done properly because “the unvetted master developer may not be able to pay” what the town will charge based on the appraisal. The FOIL request was denied.