Amagansett’s Scoville Hall Is Rising Again
Visitors to the Amagansett Presbyterian Church’s 102nd summer fair on Saturday may be surprised at the progress made in the rebuilding of the church’s Scoville Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 2011.
“Everything is lining up beautifully,” the Rev. Steven Howarth said on Tuesday as workers neared completion of the Meeting House Lane building’s exterior. “The construction has gone without a hitch.” The project is on track for a December completion and will finish at or below its projected cost, he said.
The new structure sits on the same footprint as the original, which was dedicated as the church’s parish house in 1925 and later named for the Rev. Clarence Beecher Scoville, who led the congregation from 1919 to 1943. While its exterior recalls the original, its interior will reflect the church and community’s current and future needs.
“We wired it so the whole building, including the elevator, could be powered by a generator, and we’ve installed showers — thinking that there is no hurricane shelter in Amagansett,” Mr. Howarth said. “And then, a community resident stepped up and donated a generator sufficient to power the entire structure. We’ll have power, showers, and a safe structure in the event of a hurricane, which is especially important in Amagansett considering how low Beach Hampton is. We’re delighted to be able to do that.”
Above a basement, which will be used for storage, the first floor will house meeting rooms, a kitchen, the minister’s study, and a reception room, which will open to a terrace. The second floor, with cathedral ceilings, will house a dining and banquet hall. All levels will be accessible by the elevator.
Many of the groups that met in Scoville Hall will return, Mr. Howarth said, including several 12-step groups, two Masonic lodges, and a congregation of the Church of the Nazarene. “Over the winter, we were hosting 19 groups a week in our little church building, which wasn’t designed for that,” he said. “We’ve had interest from local farmers, and local food producers who need a commercial kitchen.”
A wedding reception has already been scheduled, he said. “It delights us, because it’s a bayman’s family — folks looking for something that was truly affordable, which wasn’t available.”
Scoville Hall was engulfed in flames in the early morning hours of Oct. 15, 2011. More than 100 firefighters from five districts fought the blaze. Mr. Howarth, who serves in the Amagansett Fire Department as chaplain and firefighter, was in Connecticut with his wife, on their way to a vacation in Massachusetts, when the building was destroyed.
A three-year dispute with Peerless Insurance, a subsidiary of Liberty Mutual Insurance, followed. The disagreement drew the intervention of Barry Slotnick, an attorney who owns a house on Meeting House Lane. A settlement, reached last October, was $422,000 greater than the insurer’s initial offer; Mr. Howarth called it close to a realistic estimate of the cost of replacement.
Nonetheless, he said, the church remains short of what is needed to complete the reconstruction. “Our small congregation has really stepped up,” he said. “The church itself has put in about $400,000. But we’re still about $325,000 short.”
Along with the children’s games, pony rides, petting zoo, homemade crafts, plants, baked goods, and other offerings at the fair, which starts at 10 a.m. on the church’s grounds, a booth will provide information about Scoville Hall and its ongoing fund-raising needs. “The fair is cool,” Mr. Howarth said. “Some of the games haven’t changed in generations, which is part of its charm, but the Super Raffle has.”
With tickets ranging from $5 to $20, the raffle, in its 23rd year, offers a wide range of prizes from electronics, beach, and kitchen items to a wide variety of gift certificates, services, and lessons. “It’s a pretty remarkable list of donations from local businesses,” Mr. Howarth said, “with charming, old Americana games and rides for kids. A real mix.”