Montauk Playhouse Fears Eased

Lisa DeVeglio and Maureen Rutkowski, the president and project manager of the Montauk Playhouse Community Center Foundation, met with members of the Montauk Citizens Advisory Committee on Monday to go over revised plans for work at the community center, the scope of which has some committee members worried.

Ray Cortell, a committee member, said Monday that the playhouse foundation’s vision of hosting car and boat shows would bring still more people to a hamlet already overburdened by triathlons and other such events in the busy summer months.

A revised proposal for the playhouse, unveiled last summer, calls for moving a long-planned aquatic center from the center’s lower level, as originally intended, to the upper, and creating a multipurpose space on the lower level that could be used for craft fairs, art shows, a farmers market, car and boat shows, theatrical productions, and concerts, and might also be sectioned off for things such as yoga and tai chi classes, meeting rooms, and wedding receptions.

The changes to the original plan are the result of a survey sent out to members of the community in the fall of 2013. Foundation members said support for a pool was overwhelming.

“Why does Montauk need the largest event space?” Mr. Cortell asked Monday. He said that it was obvious from prior events such as the Paul Simon concerts held on Indian Field at the Deep Hollow Ranch years ago that too many people attending large events push out the locals. “My concern is that the community center will become a convention center.”

But the two women put those fears to rest and said that the events will be limited by space, parking, and occupancy laws. “We’re not here to become a nightclub,” said Ms. Rutkowski. In response to a question from the audience, she said that the building has been granted historical status and that expansion outside of its original footprint is prohibited.

The group has worked long and hard to define and provide what the community wants, she said. A concert along the lines of a recent one at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor by Nancy Atlas and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, both of whom live in Montauk, is something that could be accommodated in the community center, she said. “They’re out here, why couldn’t they do that here?” she asked.

“I don’t want to be mobbed out here either,” added Ms. DeVeglio, who elaborated on the plan for the aquatic center. She said that the 3,000-square-foot pool could be put on the upper level since its size does not require water storage tanks underneath it. The pool will have two sections, with its deepest point at five feet. The other section will be a sloped warm-water pool for wellness exercises. “The two sides will work in harmony,” she said.

The goal of the revised plan is also to provide a source of revenue that will help the playhouse sustain itself financially. Even in the winter months it would require only 40 percent occupancy to remain financially viable, they said. “Bigger benefactors want to see a viable plan before they write a check,” said Ms. Rutkowski. The renovation is expected to cost $7.5 million; the foundation still needs to raise $5 million.