Grand Island: Potential community center site ID'd

By Karen Carr Keefe

Senior Contributing Writer

Town Supervisor Peter Marston broke the news that there may be a suitable site at 1910 Alvin Road for consideration as a new community center for Grand Island.

Residents will have the chance to vote up or down on this opportunity in a referendum that will be on the November ballot.

Marston’s remarks – which came at the close of Monday night’s Town Board meeting – are likely to be encouraging for those residents who have pushed for a recreational gathering place near the town center.

“Something we have not talked about yet, publicly, but I think it’s important that we do at this point,” is how Marston introduced the topic.

He said, in early April, the town learned Maguire Hyundai sold its franchise interest to another local dealership franchise.

“The building that is currently Maguire Hyundai was put up for sale,” he said. “After some internal investigations and discussions, the town engineer and I went to tour the facility to understand if the space had any viable use for Grand Island.”

Marston said that, at first, they thought it would be a good fit for the town Highway Department, which would then free up the current highway building on Whitehaven Road for alternate uses in the town center.

“After touring the facility and the grounds, it became clear that this was a great opportunity to potentially create a recreation community center,” he said. “It would also give the town the opportunity to expand services in the future – and the building is accompanied with 75 acres of vacant land.”

Marston said the opportunity was discussed with the board and town attorneys, then small groups toured the facility.

“We all had a little different vision, but we all agreed that purchasing this building could be a good opportunity,” he said.

Marston pointed out that the planning firm LaBella Associates could help determine if the potential site would meet the community’s needs. LaBella is already under contract with the town to review and update its parks, recreation and senior services master plan.

“The town engaged LaBella’s services to give us some conceptual drawings, along with some generalized pricing, so that we further understand the financial impact and the best bang for our buck,” Marston said.

“On Aug. 1, the Town Board voted to sponsor a referendum on this November’s ballot that would authorize the Town Board to purchase and outfit this property to serve the town for decades to come. This will come at a cost, which is not completely vetted yet, as the final tax has yet to be filed with the county.

“The town has a maximum cap of $10 million to be bonding in the long term for the purchase and retrofit of the building and surrounding properties.”

Marston highlighted some positives and some questions he has in evaluating the site’s potential suitability for a town community center; he said the ultimate decision is up to the residents via the referendum.

“The proximity to town center is important,” Marston said. “This checks the box. Is this the perfect solution to us having a community center? No. Is this an extremely good opportunity financially to get a community center in our town? Absolutely. Does everyone think this is a good use of funds? No. Are some people praising this initiative? Yes.”

He said the Town Board understands that there are varying opinions on the topic.

“My whole adult life, I've heard from so many that the town needs a community center. We were not looking for this opportunity. It presented itself. Is the timing appropriate? I don't know that ever is,” Marston said. “The town has done its diligence and will continue to be transparent on the process and, in the end, the decision will be up to the people by a referendum.”

General information on the site:

•The building is 24,900 square feet.

•The property is 84 acres total with about 11 acres developed to operate the current tenant.

•The property has sufficient utilities.

•Some of the back land is deep wetland and cannot be developed.

•The road frontage property on Alvin Road is, by and large, viable for future development.