Saltaire Village to renovate Village Hall, expand post office
Saltaire officials recently unveiled a rendering for a renovated Village Hall and a reconstructed public safety building. Credit: Village of Saltaire
Saltaire officials recently unveiled plans for a renovated Village Hall and a reconstructed public safety building.
The plans would bring Village Hall up to code and completely redo the first building that visitors see when they enter the Fire Island village via ferry, village administrator Mario Posillico said.
“The building now and our offices now are very quaint, but they’re outdated and definitely need a face-lift,” Posillico said.
Village Hall, which was built in 1938 and is home to the public library, would be expanded under plans by Butler Engineering, Posillico said. The electrical system will be updated, an elevator will be installed and handicap accessibility will be added.
The public safety building at 14 Bay Promenade will be demolished and reconstructed to also house the U.S. Post Office and a small meeting room, he said. Village resident and architect Nicholas Petschek designed the floor plans for the approximately 1,500-square-foot building.
The architectural drawings were posted on the village’s website last month.
Mayor John Zaccaro Jr. said the construction is part of an effort to rebuild infrastructure after superstorm Sandy. Officials have had to rebuild most boardwalks and parts of the water system, as well as raise athletic fields and employee housing.
The expansion of the public safety building is due in part to the need for a larger post office thanks to the “wave of Amazon and packages that have taken over our buildings,” Zaccaro said.
“Where we used to get bag loads of mail, we’re getting ferry loads of parcels,” he said Friday.
The seasonal village of about 400 homes also hosts a doctor at 14 Bay Promenade from July through Labor Day, according to the village website. The village board is set to vote on approving a medical contract at a Feb. 28 meeting.
Dr. Robert Furey, who has been the village doctor for 42 years, said he has had “no problem with the old buildings,” noting the medical office is “basically just a triage center.”
“I’ve had no problem working there,” he said Thursday. “We’ve modernized it to a certain extent.”
Officials plan to begin construction on the two buildings at separate times during the next two years in the offseason because village offices would have to be temporarily relocated, Posillico said.
The projects would be funded using a $2.6 million reimbursement grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The grant was initially awarded after Hurricane Irene for capital improvements and was targeted for these projects by the village board in 2016, Zaccaro wrote in a recent newsletter.
Construction companies will be selected through a bidding process.
Rachelle Blidner covers Suffolk County government, politics and breaking news.
'We have to figure out what happened to these people' More than 100 women have been found dead outside on Long Island since 1976. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and Newsday investigative reporter Sandra Peddie have this exclusive story.
'We have to figure out what happened to these people' More than 100 women have been found dead outside on Long Island since 1976. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and Newsday investigative reporter Sandra Peddie have this exclusive story.
