New Town Hall In the Works
Conceptual plans for a new East Hampton Town Hall — a series of linked, wood-shingled, barn-like structures that would be built on the footprint of the old Town Hall building, which would be razed — got a preliminary nod from the East Hampton Town Board at a meeting on Tuesday, at least to proceed to the next planning stage.
The estimated $8.5 million project presented to the board would include the new building as well as the addition of more parking and better pedestrian and handicapped access to all the buildings on the Pantigo Road municipal campus, as well as final renovations to two historic buildings for use as office space.
The Peach House and Baker House were among the historic buildings donated and moved to Pantigo Road in 2007; several others were linked and transformed to create the present Town Hall, and the old building was abandoned. It has been sitting empty, and, said Peter Gumpel, an architect and member of the town’s architectural review board who has been working with a committee on the new Town Hall proposal, has “very serious environmental issues,” including mold and possibly asbestos. “It just wouldn’t make economic sense” to try to salvage it, he said. Besides, he added, its configuration does not lend itself to the type of open-plan, flexible, spatial design envisioned for the new building.
“That building is deplorable; it’s a falling-down, leaking building,” Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said.
New construction could include energy-efficient elements, Mr. Cantwell said, including solar or geothermal energy systems, enabling the town to save in the long run on energy and upkeep costs.
The estimated cost of the new Town Hall, excluding the added parking, renovations, and other improvements, is $6.7 million, covering a one-story complex with a basement for storage, totaling 21,000 square feet. The construction would enable the town to house all its offices at one location. At present, a number of town offices are in condominiums on Pantigo Place, adjacent to the Town Hall campus.
“This is a very inefficient system,” said Mr. Cantwell at the meeting on Tuesday. “It’s inconvenient, and it’s confusing to the public.” Having town departments working close to one another would increase communication and make for “more significant interaction,” Mr. Gumpel said.
In addition, said Mr. Cantwell, while the town is moving to a system of electronic records storage, it must still follow legal storage requirements, and “we don’t have a safe place to do that.”
The supervisor said the sale of the Pantigo Place office condominiums could raise $3 million to $4 million. The property on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton from which the defunct wastewater treatment plant was recently removed could also be sold, he suggested. “Together, those sales would pay for this project, essentially.”
“It’s long overdue,” commented Councilman Peter Van Scoyoc.
Under the prior administration, the town received a $500,000 state grant award for efficiency, which was earmarked to develop a new Town Hall campus. Some of the money has gone to the planning and design of the project.
Board members agreed Tuesday to have the building committee, which includes Mr. Gumpel, Drew Bennett, a consulting engineer; Scott Wilson, the town’s director of land acquisitions and management, and Alex Walter, Mr. Cantwell’s executive assistant, develop and present a more specific design, based on the concept presented this week.