Riverhead plan to build new YMCA at shuttered state armory building on Route 58 gets another shot

A long-standing effort to bring a YMCA to Riverhead is getting a new push by town officials and the nonprofit.

The town board on Tuesday approved a resolution that would make way for the town's first Y facility at the shuttered state armory building on Route 58. The resolution also authorized the town’s Community Development Agency to begin negotiations with the YMCA of Long Island.

“The Y has been hoping and dreaming and planning for Riverhead,” president and CEO Anne Brigis said on Friday. “Riverhead is a community that I think The Y would grow and thrive in.”

Plans to bring a YMCA to Riverhead date back more than a decade. In 2012, the organization considered building on a 7.3-acre site at the Calverton Enterprise Park on the western end of town, though that plan never materialized.

“This has been going on for years, trying to find the perfect location for the YMCA,” said councilman Timothy Hubbard. “To see it come to fruition would be awesome.”

Brigis said the Calverton site was “not really an ideal location” and the organization sought a more central location.

The armory site connects to Riverhead’s Stotzky Park, which has picnic areas, soccer, baseball and softball fields and a dog park.

The National Guard Armory, located between car dealerships on Route 58, was returned to the town by New York State after bills passed in both houses of the State Legislature in 2011. 

Riverhead would likely need approval to transfer the site to the YMCA from state lawmakers, since the deed includes a condition that the premises be used by the town’s police department and justice court for operations, public safety or recreational programs. It also states that the property could be transferred back to the state if not used for those purposes.

Assemb. Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow), a former Riverhead councilwoman, said Monday she fully supports the idea.

“I think we would have full support from the State Legislature,” she said. “It’s a perfect spot for a YMCA, accessible for after-school programs and weekend activities for all of our residents.”

The town abandoned plans to relocate its police headquarters and court to the armory and will instead convert the existing Town Hall building on Howell Avenue into a new justice court facility. Last fall, the town purchased a former bank building on Second Street for $20 million to use as a new town hall.

Town officials have expressed concerns about asbestos mitigation at the site — something councilman Bob Kern said the organization was aware of. “They love the building because it’s built really well and it’s worth that remediation,” he said.

Brigis said they believe the building has “good bones” but they plan to investigate the state of the building while forming a committee to raise money for the project, which could cost more than $30 million to develop.

There are six YMCA locations on Long Island: in Bay Shore, East Hampton, Holtsville, Huntington, Glen Cove and Patchogue.

Terms of a potential agreement, including whether the town would lease or sell the 5.7-acre armory property to the organization, have not been discussed yet, officials said.

It’s unclear how long it could take for the town and YMCA to draft an agreement.