With people 65 and older making up nearly a quarter of East Hampton Town’s population, there is no question that a new senior citizens center to serve them is a wise use of taxpayer money; the current center on Springs-Fireplace Road was in bad shape even before the town board set out to plan a new one.
This sizable segment of the community deserves a place for programming, meals, and camaraderie that feels welcoming, and that space can also be architecturally interesting. No one wants a grim, utilitarian facility with no pizzazz. But with the estimated costs of the plans for a new center on Abraham’s Path in Amagansett made public for the first time last month, it’s hard not to question whether the chosen design is the best one for the money or whether the town board has instead been dazzled by the shiny offerings of an architectural team when we might get something equally beautiful for a lower price tag. Nearly $32 million for a 22,000-square-foot facility is a tough pill to swallow.
The chosen plan has been described as a “windmill” design, its three wings resembling the blades of a windmill when seen from above, with a dining room at the center. While that design is the kind of showstopper that might win professional accolades, the recently revealed costs underline a growing sense outside of Town Hall that it’s not the most practical choice.
Much groundwork has been done already to assess the needs and desires of the town’s older residents vis-a-vis this new facility. People wanted it to connect with nature, to include space for creative and wellness programs, to have a welcoming dining room, and to be energy efficient and environmentally conscious, and those things have all been incorporated into the design. A big plus is the addition of three walking trails on the seven-acre property, including one that would be accessible to people with mobility issues or who are in wheelchairs.
A town board hearing on the project last Thursday drew comments from only two people, both of them raising valid questions. Among them: Isn’t it too soon after learning the project’s total anticipated cost to move full steam ahead? Knowing what we now know about the price, the plan to begin clearing at the site as early as next month should be re-evaluated while potentially less costly options are explored. An earlier, so-called “linear” design, meant to evoke the South Fork’s potato barns, might come with lower costs, if only because of its reliance on right angles that make construction less complicated. Such a design would also make it far easier to add to the center in the future. It’s hard to imagine an easy way to add on to the three-blade design.
The low turnout at the hearing last week should not be seen as an unqualified public endorsement of the project as it is now described. The town board and supervisor-elect would be well served by listening to rumblings outside the meeting room. This newspaper’s social media posts of stories about the senior center have generated a surprising number of comments, many of them quite astute. Aside from generally questioning the high price tag, the $3.1 million cost for solar panels was questioned. People wondered whether the high ceilings in the dining room would make for higher heating and cooling costs and challenging acoustics. They asked if stainless-steel shingles really fit on the South Fork.
Jaine Mehring, a board watcher who spoke at the hearing last Thursday, gave voice to many of these concerns, saying she had hoped for “some public vetting — prior to a public hearing and moving forward — around some things” that residents here “might want to understand now about the cost analysis.” Given that the public learned the specifics of the costs only a few weeks ago, that seems reasonable.
Even this far along in the process, it’s not too late for the board to stop and ask the same questions that many in the community are asking. They owe it to their constituents to do so.