Riverhead Town officials and state lawmakers are seeking to amend state law to allow the town to lease the former state armory building on Route 58 to the YMCA of Long Island.
A bill introduced Friday by State Senator Anthony Palumbo (R-New Suffolk) would amend the 2011 state law that conveyed the property to the town, allowing it to enter into “leases or other agreements with the YMCA of Long Island” for the organization to use the building for “recreational and educational programs.”
Currently, the property may only be used “by the police department, justice court, public safety and recreational programs developed and operated by the Town of Riverhead Police Department.” Palumbo’s bill would remove that restriction.
“I fully support the redevelopment of the Riverhead armory for a YMCA recreational facility and will work to amend previously enacted legislation to allow this project to move forward,” Palumbo said in a statement. “Repurposing the armory as a YMCA facility will provide the Riverhead community with greater recreational and fitness opportunities, additional programs and services and will reincorporate the building to meet the needs of current residents.”
Assembly Member Jodi Giglio (R-Baiting Hollow) said in an interview Monday that she will introduce a companion bill in the Assembly. She has been working with the town and the Democratic majority staff on the specific language of the bill to ensure it’s signed into law, she said.
“I’ve been working with the YMCA and with the town for the last six months, trying to get them to decide whether or not they’re selling or leasing, so that I could put the bill in,” she said.
Town officials on May 21 passed a resolution authorizing the town attorney’s office to seek amendment of the state legislation to allow the “lease or sale” of the armory to the YMCA. The resolution also authorized a petition supporting the legislation — known as a municipal home rule request.
Both town and state officials are hoping the bill passes by the end of the current legislative session, which ends Thursday.
The town has been in talks with the YMCA of Long Island for at least two years about redeveloping the property into a recreation center. In July 2023, the Town Board passed a resolution officially endorsing the idea and authorizing negotiations with the nonprofit.
| PRIOR COVERAGE: A YMCA in Riverhead? Town Board to endorse former armory site on Route 58 and authorize negotiations with YMCA of Long Island |
The YMCA of Long Island toured the site and “expressed interest in leasing or purchasing the Armory site from the Town for a variety of uses all centered and focused on well-being,” the May 21 resolution states. According to the resolution, the YMCA would develop the site with a children’s room; multi-purpose rooms; community kitchen; co-working space; STEM lab; teen room; gymnasium; indoor track; sports courts; multi-purpose exercise studios; fitness area; adult locker rooms; youth locker rooms; aquatics; administrative offices; and multi-purpose classroom space.
“Bringing the YMCA into a new community is a collaborative effort that requires meaningful partnerships with local elected leaders, medical institutions, school districts, and a variety of community stakeholders,” YMCA of Long Island CEO Anne Brigis said in an emailed statement Monday. “We remain committed to working closely with all parties to create a welcoming space that fosters youth development, healthy living, and community connection in Riverhead.
There “continues to be a tremendous need for recreation and community services for young and old alike in the Town,” the resolution states. The armory’s location is “ideally suited and will [complement] recreation and programs offered at [Stotzky] Park,” which is just south of the armory building. “The Town does not have the funding to undertake the necessary renovations of the former New York State Armory facility, now in a state of blight, nor funds to operate, manage or maintain such an expansion of its recreational programs.”
Deputy Town Attorney Danielle Hurley said the town is offering to lease the building to the YMCA rent-free for 99 years, in exchange for benefits and free programs for Riverhead Town residents.
“They won’t owe rent, in exchange and conditioned upon YMCA’s dedication of $25,000 per year to Riverhead residents that are deemed eligible for financial assistance to defray membership costs,” Hurley said, reading a draft of a lease agreement. The town is also seeking free quarterly vocational classes and free bimonthly recreational youth adult programs for residents, she said.
The YMCA has yet to agree to those terms, she said in an interview Thursday. In an email Monday, Brigis did not respond to request for comment about the town’s proposed conditions for the lease.
“As part of our mission, the YMCA is committed to removing barriers and will be raising philanthropic dollars to provide financial assistance to children and families in need,” Brigis said. “While cost and timeline are still to be determined, a small planning committee of community stakeholders will be meeting with me in the weeks and months ahead.”
Council Member Bob Kern said in 2023 that converting the building into the YMCA would likely cost $20 million. Kern said last Tuesday that it would cost around that price now. However, the increased cost of construction and materials would likely increase the price.
The 32,000-square-foot building was deeded to the town by New York State in 2011 after the N.Y. Army National Guard’s 133rd Quartermaster Company was relocated from the site. Town officials initially planned to relocate the police and town court complex from Howell Avenue to the armory, due to space limitations and safety concerns, and successfully lobbied state lawmakers to transfer the property.
But it would have cost roughly $13 million to renovate the armory site for the police and court complex, according to plans prepared by architects and engineers hired by the board. The Town Board rejected the plan in 2014, and again in 2017, deeming it too expensive.
The town officially abandoned the plan to retrofit the armory into a justice court complex in 2022, when it purchased Peconic Bay Medical Center’s downtown campus on West Second Street and relocated Town Hall there. That will allow the town’s Justice Court to relocate to the old Town Hall at 200 Howell Avenue and for Riverhead Police Headquarters to expand at 210 Howell Avenue. Renovations and repairs to both buildings have yet to begin.
Since taking ownership of the armory property, the town has primarily used it as a storage space for police equipment and vehicles.
“Structurally, it’s sound, which is huge,” Town Engineer Drew Dillingham said of the building in August 2023. “There’s still a hefty price tag on the remediation. It’s an old building. It’s ancient.”
He noted several problems: exposed asbestos wrapping, peeling lead-based paint, a lack of air conditioning, and widespread leaks.
According to its website, YMCA of Long Island has seven locations around Nassau and Suffolk counties, including in East Hampton, Glen Cove, Patchogue, Huntington, Holtsville and Bay Shore.
A number of attempts to bring a YMCA to Riverhead have failed. Baiting Hollow resident Joe Van de Wetering, who died in 2022, worked for years to try to bring a “Peconic YMCA” to the town, spearheading a successful fundraising effort and pursuing potential locations of both privately and publicly owned land. In 2012, YMCA of Long Island, under Brigis’ leadership, pulled out of a plan devised by Van de Wetering and town officials to locate a facility at the Calverton Enterprise Park and opted to pursue a facility on the Riverhead Central School District’s campus instead. That project never materialized.
The Family Community Life Center, a housing and community center project led by the leaders of the First Baptist Church of Riverhead, said in 2018 that it would partner with YMCA of Long Island to build its recreation center, but plans for the Family Community Life Center development, which itself has stalled awaiting a town zoning code amendment, do not include a YMCA.
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