With the release of an architect’s rendering of a new Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, interest and enthusiasm for the project is sure to build. Also notable is that Friends of Bay Street, a nonprofit, announced this week that it hoped to buy a nearby eyesore building, tear it down, and replace it with open space. But there are questions, too.
It appears the new building would take up just about the entire property on West Water Street that is now home to the 7-Eleven, a liquor store, and other shops. For parking the developers may turn to a former toxic waste site now owned by National Grid, in a deal about which details are few. There are also eyes on several Rose Street properties nearby that may be slated for bigger things.
The location of the essentially waterfront theater plan must be considered as well in terms of sea level rise and exposure to storm flooding. This massive a building complex only a few feet above normal high tide deserves an extremely close look.
The Bay Street Theater project is the latest shiny new thing taking up attention in Sag Harbor, and it is important that village officials study the proposal in a decidedly dispassionate fashion.