By Mark Nolan
Artists would flock to Patchogue Village if only they had affordable places to work and practice their craft. And now, Art Space, the national non-profit organization that builds living and studio space for practicing artists, is one step closer to building in the village.
On Tuesday night during a special joint hearing before the village’s Planning and Architectural Review boards, Artspace received approval from the ARB to construct a 41-unit development on Terry Street. The village planned a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Wednesday night after The Long Island Advance went to press. “It enables artists who are making a living waiting on tables or from their art to remain here,” said Marian Russo, executive director of the Village’s Community Development Agency. “We could become that artists’ community here on Long Island.”
The deadline for Artspace to receive needed approvals is fast approaching. The organization must meet the village’s Jan. 22 deadline for plans and have its application submitted to New York state by the end of February. The plan calls for constructing a 60,000-square foot building in three sections, with one tower to be five stories tall and two live/work areas to be three stories high. There would be roughly 2,500 square feet of commercial space for a coffee shop or wine bar, between 60 and 70 parking spaces and plenty of gallery space. The idea, Artspace representatives said, was to create a unique building that houses artists who love to display their art for the public. In fact, one of the criteria to be chosen to live in an Artspace building is a desire for an artist to integrate their work into the community.
“They have to have some sense of community,” said Shawn McLearen, project manager for Artspace. “We don’t want artists who lock themselves away.” Throughout the public hearing,McLearen said Artspace would work with village officials and comply with village code. A question was raised if architects had adequately designed to allow access by emergency responders. Architects said they were planning to install a freight elevator and that there was adequate space around the entire building to allow fire trucks complete access in the event of an emergency. Developers also said they urge Artspace residents to be creative in designing their live and workspace, but would follow village codes regarding outdoor plantings.
While many aspects of the design were unveiled Tuesday, developers still have quite a bit of work ahead of them. Both the Planning and Architectural Review boards said Artspace would have to submit more plans as the project progresses, including showing what type of street lighting would be used, how sidewalks would be installed and what type of landscaping would exist. “The plans are still evolving,” said Matthew Meier of Hamilton, Houston and Lownie Architects. Hans Henke, a member of the ARB, even asked if the plan took into account the potential effect of Patchogue’s dense pigeon population. “I don’t know how you prevent pigeons,” Meier said. “All the bricks and panels are washable. This will be in their national portfolio and I would venture a guess that they will want it to be clean.” As artists spoke in favor of the project, a college art professor at St. Joseph’s College asked if Artspace had taken into account that artists sometimes work with semi-hazardous materials. It was a question also asked by the Planning Board. “All units are well ventilated,” McLearen said. “We take that very seriously.” The plan calls for using environmentally- friendly materials wherever possible and having as much natural light filter into the residences as possible to allow artists plenty of light to work with. The windows will be large and there will be galleries open to the public during certain hours. Artists on the first floor will be encouraged to open their windows and doors to the public to allow pedestrians to see first-hand the vibrant community within. A member of the ARB said she and her family visited the Artspace building in Bridgeport and were overwhelmed by the hospitality of the artists and the aesthetics of the building. “These are people I want as neighbors,” she said. Mayor Paul Pontieri said Artspacewould greatly enhance the arts in the village. “I’m excited about the gallery space throughout the whole development,” he said. “We’ll be able to do some really neat things from art shows to artists in residence so people can work with the artists and be able to create something that will join the theater and the artists community and give people more reason to come here. The whole goal is for that area to become an artists’ community.”
Officials said they expect to break ground on the $19 million project in late summer if all approvals are obtained.
http://www.longislandadvance.net/
By MARCELLE S. FISCHLER The opportunity to live and work in a 45-unit housing project designed for artists is drawing creative types to Patchogue, N.Y.
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PATCHOGUE
CHIP HUNTER, an artist in Patchogue, was thinking about relocating to Huntington when he heard that Artspace Projects, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit real estate developer for the arts, was considering an affordable live-work development for artists in his village. Mr. Hunter, 48, who has a mosaic, stained-glass and stonework showroom on Main Street, decided to stay.
Artspace, which owns and manages 18 artist housing projects nationally from Washington State to Bridgeport, Conn., painstakingly rehabilitates abandoned historic buildings into affordable loft-style dwellings, transforming blighted areas with a SoHo effect.
“It will draw artists from all over New York,” Mr. Hunter said. “Artspace may be a catalyst to help the artists work together.”
Artspace recently completed a survey of artists across the region to try to gauge interest in the Patchogue live-work development.
Proponents believe it could become a catalyst for the arts in Suffolk County. “It will be an incredible anchor for the village and set the pace for Patchogue to become an artists’ colony and develop a personality and make it more of a destination spot,” Mr. Hunter said.
According to Teri Deaver, director of consulting and new projects for Artspace, “Economic redevelopment in an area is often an outcome of this type of project.” Artspace, which was founded in 1979, works with cities, private developers, nonprofit groups and historic preservationists.
“Some communities want projects like this because they are looking for an identity,” Ms. Deaver added, “or some communities want to strengthen their identity that they already have in terms of the arts.”
A new identity is what Mayor Paul V. Pontieri envisions for this village of 12,000 set on 2.2 square miles, with a ferry terminal to the Fire Island National Seashore on the Patchogue River and 29 acres of waterfront park on the Great South Bay.
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Patchogue, which is about 55 miles from Midtown Manhattan, was the last stop on the Long Island Rail Road and a summer colony with 1,000 hotel rooms. “We were the Hamptons,” Mr. Pontieri said. “That was our identity.”
When the railroad line was extended to Montauk, tourists started vacationing farther east, and the hotels became boarding houses or were shuttered. So in the 1920s, Patchogue made its first transition, becoming one of Long Island’s major shopping districts, with J. C. Penney, Woolworth’s and Swezey’s department stores.
But the opening of big-box stores north of the village on Sunrise Highway in the 1980s caused another shift, again robbing Patchogue of its cachet. The Smith Haven and Bay Shore malls lured shoppers away, leaving a blight of vacancies on Main Street. “Our identity had gone from tourist to commercial retail to nothing,” said Mr. Pontieri, 59.
The rebirth in 1999 of the Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts, originally a 1921 vaudeville house and later a big-screen movie theater and triplex, has started to revive Main Street, Mr. Pontieri said. In the last two years, five restaurants have opened.
The village invested $5 million into the 1,250-seat theater, which is used by local dance troupes as well as the Gateway Playhouse, a Bellport-based equity theater, which stages Broadway-style shows like “Miss Saigon” in Patchogue during the summer months and holiday season.
But that is not enough. “The theater as an art space can’t stand alone without other things around it,” Mr. Pontieri said.
Hoping that new housing for artists could be completed in two years, Mr. Pontieri has raised $75,000 and secured commitments for the rest of the $450,000 that an Artspace project would cost the village. Officials believe the project could ultimately cost tens of millions of dollars, but Artspace has yet to select a site or a design.
Three locations are under consideration. The prime candidate is the original 1907 Patchogue library, which has columns and arched windows and neo-Classical design, and a more modern addition next to it, which could be rebuilt as a residential tower, encompassing half a block of vacant buildings in the heart of downtown.
Two vacant lots owned by the village are the other possibilities. One is on Lake Street, down the block from the old library. Another, on Terry Street, might incorporate two mill houses once used by workers in the local lace mill, which closed in 1954 on the site of what is now Briarcliffe College, a career-oriented school.
The project would create about 45 residential units and draw artists from Manhattan to Montauk, said Gerard J. Crean, a village trustee.
While survey results are not complete, Ms. Deaver said, more than 300 artists responded, which is considered “a strong return.”
In a typical Artspace project, the units tend to be bigger than traditional affordable housing and incorporate studio and living spaces with lots of natural light and open floor plans. Retail space on the first floor is often used for galleries, with community space set aside for workshops, classes and public arts works.
“The housing we create is by design attractive to artists,” Ms. Deaver said. Artspace keeps rents affordable by financing the projects with a mix of public and private loans and private donations.
Artists across the spectrum — writers, sculptors, painters, filmmakers, photographers, actors, costume designers — are welcome.
There is no admissions jury: artists are vetted to determine their commitment to their art form, Ms. Deaver said. To qualify financially, they must earn about 60 percent of median income. For a family of four, the annual income limit would be $56,280.
Michelle Stark, director of Suffolk County’s office of film and cultural affairs, expressed the hope that Artspace would attract businesses related to the arts and lure enterprises like advertising and filmmaking.
It may also help to stem the tide of people 18 to 34, who according to the Long Island Index, an annual study of economic and social trends, are flowing off the Island, partly because they cannot afford to live here. Steve Levy, the Suffolk County executive, called Artspace “a wonderful way to provide affordable housing.”
James Morgo, Suffolk’s commissioner of economic development, said artists could help to spark a downtown revival. “By bringing these folks downtown,” he said, “you are not only creating affordable homes but you are also creating this vibrancy in the downtown.”
Leonardo Liguori, 46, a filmmaker, photographer and writer in Mastic Beach, said he was “extremely intrigued” by the possibility of living in an artists’ community.
“Just the exchange of ideas, thoughts or arguments stimulates artists,” said Mr. Liguori, whose 1996 film, “Lace Mill,” was made in Patchogue. In his view, artists need “such a community, where your neighbors are all artists and they can invite you in to get feedback.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/realestate/06lizo.html?_r=2&emc=eta1&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
By Mark Nolan
