New East Hampton Senior Center Site Proposed In Amagansett

EAST HAMPTON, NY — East Hampton town officials have proposed a plan to purchase a seven-acre parcel in Amagansett for a new, larger senior center.

The property, at 403 Abraham’s Path, is centrally located in the town and easily accessible
from Montauk Highway and by back roads from Amagansett, Springs, and East Hampton, town officials said.

The purchase price for the parcel is $1.63 million; the proposal will be discussed by the town board at its work session Tuesday, which begins at 11 a.m. and can be viewed live online here or at on LTV, Channel 22.

In addition to accommodating the current and future needs of the senior nutrition and adult day
care programs, the new building, which will be fully handicapped-accessible, will provide a permanent home for the East Hampton Food Pantry, as well as space for additional wellness programs, such as yoga, dance, meditation and health screenings. The new space will also allow for additional enrichment programs, such as healthy living lectures, and provide comfortable spaces to hold book clubs, card games, art classes, movie screenings, and more, town officials said.

A new senior center was originally slated to be built on the site of the existing facility, located at 128 Springs Fireplace Road in East Hampton; that plan was nixed for reasons including site limitations, disruption during construction to current senior center services, and
increasing traffic congestion in the area, town officials said.

In 2019, the town board decided to find an alternate location.

The proposed site is adjacent to an undeveloped portion of the town-owned Terry King ballfield complex and is bordered to the south by the Long Island Rail Road tracks and to the east by Stony Hill Stables, the town said. The parcel is about two miles and a five-minute drive from the current senior center.

In addition, the new senior center will be designed to be a highly energy-efficient facility, with a wastewater system that's safe for the environment; both the town’s senior center building committee and its energy sustainability committee will weigh in.

“There are so many exciting aspects to this project," East Hampton Town Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, liaison to the town’s human services department, said. "The proposed site for the new senior center gives us the ability to create indoor spaces that are light-filled and purposeful as well as outdoor spaces that are natural and tranquil, all while being environmentally responsible — as the energy needed to run the new center will come from renewable sources.”

She added that she looks forward to collaborating with seniors in the community on the design of the new indoor and outdoor spaces as well as programming they would like to see once they’ve settled into the new center.

“I am very excited that we have found a highly appropriate location for this much-needed facility
that will serve the needs of the growing senior population of our town,” East Hampton
Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc said. “The COVID-19 pandemic only underscored the
importance of the services provided by our human services department. The new center will
allow us to continue providing that support, and to expand our offerings.”

Next steps include holding a public hearing to acquire the property, issuing a request
for proposals for architectural, energy modeling and engineering services, and bonding
for the potential purchase of the seven-acre property, as well as continuing outreach to the
community.