East End Dawns New Look
Volume 49, Issue 1
By Mike Lavers
After a long and often bitterly cold winter, residents and visitors returning to the East End are bound to notice the numerous changes that have taken place over the last several months.
New restaurant and theatre fill to fill a void in Cherry Grove
Cherry Grove’s famed beach stood up quite well against the onslaught of Old Man Winter this year. But it’s what lays behind the dunes that residents say will draw more visitors to this storied community this season.
The Island Breeze, a restaurant owned and operated by Ron King and Robyn Murray, opened its doors earlier this month and fills a void that had been left when Michael’s burned to the ground in a fire in 2001. The restaurant – designed by Pines resident Hal Hayes – features an extensive breakfast, lunch, dinner and cocktail menu as well as three stories from which diners can watch the sunset over the Great South Bay.
The Island Repertory Theatre Company (IRTC) will have a new home this season at The Tide after the club and cabaret bar built a new, 50-seat theatre earlier this year. The company, directed by long-time Grove resident Richard LaFrance, held various dinner performances in the building in 2000 and 2001 when it was Bailey’s.
A fire in 2002 forced the IRTC to relocate to The Pines. But LaFrance said the company’s return to The Grove with performances of “Slap n’ Tickle” and “The Vagina Monologues” along with others, such as “Twisted Nunsense,” “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Vampire Lesbians of Sodom” will ensure that The Tides becomes as a gathering place in The Grove this season.
“It is going to be a lively place,” he said.
Beach takes another hit in
Davis Park
John Lund, president of the Davis Park Property Owners Association (DPPOA), told The News that his community lost 30 feet of beach last fall after large swells generated by offshore storms battered the coastline. Davis Park has suffered from severe beach erosion for years but a proposal that would have provided funding to replenish the beach failed when 56 percent of home owners voted against it. “I was upset,” Lund said. “It would have almost doubled my taxes but I was willing to do it.”
The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) also built two new substations and a transformer in the community as part of its ongoing effort to upgrade the island’s power grid. “They will make a significant impact because it’s such a small group out there,” LIPA Spokesperson Michael Lowndes said.
New Community House sparks debate in Pines
The demolition of the Fire Island Pines Community House was completed earlier this month but the construction of the new structure, designed by architect and Pines resident Scott Bromley, cannot begin until the town of Brookhaven issues the final permits to contractor Vinnie Pepe.
The new Community House is slated for completion by next summer. In the meantime, groups that have traditionally met inside the building have been forced to find a temporary home. The Pines Care Center has been moved into a private home on Beach Hill Road and Eric von Kuersteiner has offered the Pavillion to the Fire Island Pines Art Project and other community organizations.
Brett Backus, secretary of the Fire Island Pines Property Owners Association (FIPPOA), said that these relocations and the delay in the start of construction on the building have caused a major disruption for the community.
“Our issue in the community is that we don’t have a community house,” she said. “We have to find different venues for meetings this year and perhaps part of next.”
Others have complained that the old Community House, which was originally the Lone Hill Life Saving Station, should not have been demolished because it was a historic landmark. Jay Pagano, chair of the Community Center Committee, told The News earlier this month that his committee contacted two historic preservation groups on Long Island to determine the historical value of the building. But in the end, they both concluded that the structure lacked “historic merit.”
“This was the only case scenario,” Pagano said.
The new Community House, which will bear the name Whyte Hall in honor of the late John Whyte, who donated $500,000 to the project before his death last March, will feature a deck that can double as a seating area for theatrical performances and concerts, a number of meeting rooms, an office and an apartment for the community’s doctor and air conditioning. FIPPOA President Alan Brockman said the new structure would serve the community for decades to come.
“It will be used for a myriad of things for the general benefit for all members of the community,” he said. “It will be a center that will support all community activities and will be something the community can be proud of.”
Along with the construction of a new Community House, a handful of new businesses have opened up along Harbor Walk as the community continues to attract a younger generation of homeowners and visitors.
Bamboo Florist, which occupies the site of the former Pines Floral Company, opened its doors in April and offers a wide range of traditional and exotic flowers and plants. A stone’s throw away the Bay Bar, which was the Cultured Elephant during the Whyte era, has revamped its menu to include pastries, sandwiches and other bistro-type fare along with the Starbucks coffee it introduced last season. P.J. McAteer, owner of the Sip n’ Swirl, opened the Pines Bistro & Pizza earlier this month.
French appears to be the language de la mode in The Pines and the Hotel Ciel, formerly The Pines Botel, reflect this trend as Kuersteiner and Roncalli continue to freshen up the commercial district. Sapin, the former Marco’s restaurant, opened its doors last weekend. Larry Bullock and others said they expect the new chef will draw hungry diners from the Pines and other parts of the island.
ˆIn other news; LIPA removed 94 dead trees and limbs last fall that posed a treat to power lines running through the community. It also began to work on the power grid in The Pines so blackouts, such as the one in 2003 that nearly brought the community to a standstill, don’t repeat themselves. The Brookhaven Highway Department followed suit and removed 42 more trees along Fire Island Boulevard over the winter. |
