Southold’s Justice Court hasn’t had a designated home for years, and Town Board members are again debating its future: build new or retrofit the former Peconic Lane school building.

A roughly $4 million new building could come in cheaper than a retrofit, estimated at about $4.6 million, town engineer Michael Collins told the board at its Tuesday work session.

“The short answer is: Is it possible? Yes. Would it be a smart decision? No,” Mr. Collins said of a retrofit for the Peconic Lane Community Center.

Town Supervisor Al Krupski wasn’t ready to accept that conclusion, pointing to the tax implications of new construction. The town purchased the former school in 2008, and it has been used as an interim court and meeting space since the Town Hall meeting room wasdamaged by a frozen pipein February.

“It’s all fun when you build new, you get your name on a brass plaque on the door,” he said. “But that’s not, this is Southold Town, and I don’t see where we can’t use the existing infrastructure that we have, which we’ve been using … why we can’t retrofit that into a usable, safe space for the public and for town staff.”

Mr. Krupski said he wants a second opinion on the retrofit option, pushing back on the assessment prepared by an architect from L.K. McLean Associates and presented by Mr. Collins.

Councilwoman Jill Doherty, who has served on the Town Board since 2011, said the debate felt familiar.

The town is back to the same “outcome we had a few years ago,” she said, arguing a new build would stretch taxpayer dollars further than retrofitting the existing structure.

“I just don’t see where this makes any sense,” Ms. Doherty said. “The new building, it’s in a great location, and you’re gonna have a building that will be good for at least 50 years. You know, it’s gonna be a 20-year bond and then you’ve got another 30 years after that.”

The existing Peconic Lane building is 5,735 square feet and would need roughly 400 additional square feet. Mr. Collins said retrofitting it would “present more problems than it solves,” requiring the space to be divided into four zones — public, administrative, secure and court — while also bringing it into ADA compliance and adding secure public access.

Source: The Suffolk Times