What kind of Town Square park do you want?
Decide for yourself and tell the Town Board and opposition candidates.
Compare the feel of Town Square public park options.
1) Restore Craft’d and update the original building cutting new first floor doors and windows where the “Riverhead” sign is
or
2) Build a five story Petrocelli hotel that dominates the square, overshadows the Suffolk Theater, hides the Arts Council and amphitheater plus takes away 14 ft X 200 ft plus 14 ft X 20 ft of space from the Town Square, and 10 ft X 220 ft from the East End Arts Council on the other side.
1
To the left of CRAFT'D are the buildings of the East End Arts Council that will be moved, lose 10' x 220' of yard space and be hidden behind Petrocelli's hotel/condo
The current open space between CRAFT'D and the Science Center ready for upgrade.
- Supervisor Hubbard, Board Members Kern and Rothwell Townclerk@townofriverheadny.gov
- Jerry Halpin, Supervisor candidate votejerryhalpin@gmail.com
- Kevin Shea, Board candidate sheaforriverhead@gmail.com
- Mark Woolley, Board candidate votemarkwoolley@gmail.com
While I’m not a Riverhead resident, picture # 2 does look a lot better than picture # 1.
ReplyDeleteFive story hotels have a certain kind of attraction but this one dominates the space of what is supposed to be a town square. If downtown needs more hotel rooms, they can be built on West Main Street.
DeleteYou are correct. Perhaps the original version of the Riverhead Revitalization could be displayed in the same conceptual vision. This way it would be better envisioned.
DeleteIt’s certainly not unusual for town squares to have hotels (many do not look as good as this one). Town square v. West Main Street seems an odd cause celebre.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly seems if you would prefer an urban character, you are on track. There is the Northport Hotel is a newly built, 5-story boutique hotel located directly on Main Street in the village of Northport. And this is the exception. Larger, multi-story hotels are typically found in more suburban or commercial areas, not in historic village centers. Would you prefer to sacrifice the rural character for any particularly important reason?
DeleteIt is not certain that central Riverhead could be characterized fairly as "rural".
DeleteThe question is what the people of Riverhead want their Town Square park to be, vs the behind the scenes rewarding of a big political donor.
ReplyDeleteAnd if this is an issue, it would be best to put out a more comprehensive poll in a local newspaper or an equivalent non-biased, non-government and popular venue.
DeleteI don’t know anything about anyone said to be a political donor, but that is beside the point. The issue is the merits, regardless of who sponsors it. The personalities are irrelevant - is the proposed project aesthetic? It certainly appears, at least as depicted, to be very appealing.
ReplyDeleteVery appealing. I can't argue that tis conceptual drawing is easy on the eyes. If that is your motivator, would you be open to view other conceptual drawings that don't require demolishment of a building? Would you be interested in other boutique hotel drawings that although require demolition of the structure, do not require hiding the arts council or permanently omitting the Craft'd business from the Riverhead Revitalization plan? From my perspective, it appears to be a hotel with a vanilla bland style that you can see in any commercial city. Void of any character representative of the Riverhead character rich in agricultural and marine past..
DeleteAnd out of left field, if I was to tell you that the average hotel occupied room (including laundry service and the exclusive hotel pool) would require roughly 100 to 400 gallons of fresh water daily per room, consumed from our already depleting water aquifers does that seem important to you?
Yes, there is a rich agricultural and marine past - we should honor the past and draw lessons from it - but we cannot live in it.
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