Long Island Science Center among Riverhead projects awarded grants

Riverhead is using $3.3 million in funding from Suffolk County toward downtown revitalization initiatives, including renovating a science center and restoring a historic theater.

The Long Island Science Center will use $1 million of the county grant to renovate a vacant former Swezey’s department store in downtown Riverhead to more than double its exhibition space, add a rooftop observation deck, gardens and a planetarium.

“It’s a real game changer for us,” said Cailin Kaller, executive director of the nonprofit. “It shows [the county’s] belief in the project, and in Riverhead.”

The science center is among four projects in Riverhead awarded grants to enhance culture, education and parking downtown. The county awarded a total of $47 million as part of its JumpStart and JumpSmart programs, which fund “regionally significant projects” in downtown areas using county and federal American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Of the $3.3 million, $2 million is earmarked for a new parking garage on First Street. The Vail-Leavitt Music Hall will use $250,000 for critical repairs, and the nonprofit New York Marine Rescue Center will use $100,000 to rehabilitate seals and sea turtles.

The first phase of the science center project will transform the ground floor into 12,000 square feet of exhibition space at an estimated cost of $2 million. The center also will raise funds and will apply for separate grants, Kaller said.

The science center called downtown Riverhead home for nearly two decades before outgrowing its space. It has leased a roughly 5,000-square-foot storefront at Tanger outlets since late 2021.

“Our home has always been downtown,” Kaller said.

Town officials said the funds will help advance ongoing revitalization efforts that include a new $4 million town square, with green space, an amphitheater and a playground on the riverfront. That project is partially funded by a $10 million state grant Riverhead won in 2022. Two buildings on Main Street were demolished in 2021 to prepare for the town square. 

The science center's renovation timeline is planned in tandem with the next phase of the town square project, which officials said could begin next year.

Community Development Director Dawn Thomas said Tuesday the town issued a request for proposals for the playground and amphitheater and will soon make a selection.

Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said the parking garage will help offset the loss of parking along the riverfront once the town square is completed.

“Cars should not have waterfront views, it should be people,” she said. The multistory parking garage would have about 500 spaces and is planned to go up on an existing town lot on First Street. Town officials estimate it could cost $20 million. 

Aguiar said the grant funding will also help address repairs at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall, a historic music venue that the town recently reclaimed in an uncontested legal battle.

Town officials have not announced a long-term plan for the venue but voted Nov. 9 to appoint themselves as interim directors for the nonprofit council that runs the theater while seeking applications for a permanent board of directors.

“Our hope is to get the most qualified individuals,” Aguiar said, adding that culture is a key part of downtown revitalization.