Grangebel Park lunch spot to sell salads, wraps from historic pump house

Four years ago, Grangebel Park was transformed through multimillion-dollar renovations into three acres of sweeping riverfront views, pedestrian bridges and rolling pathways. But it’s still had a hard time shaking its bad reputation.

One local restaurant owner is seeking to change that.

Dee Muma, who owns the Dark Horse Restaurant on East Main Street, will begin selling light lunches and beverages out of the historic pump house in the middle of the park as soon as a few weeks from now.

“It’s a beautiful park, and it needs to be used more,” Muma said. “It’s time we took back the park.”

Muma has been working with the town over the past two years to get permission to sell lunches, beverages and snacks out of the historic structure. The building was restored by the town in 2001 for public use, but instead became a notorious repository of empty liquor bottles, urine stains and trash— sometimes including discarded condoms and syringes.

Muma offered to clean up, renovate and secure the pump house at no cost to the town. In exchange, she will be permitted to sell lunches, beverages and other snacks out of the building. All of the food will be locally sourced and prepared fresh at her restaurant across the street at the corner of East Main Street and Peconic Avenue.

“We want to serve a simple, quick, inexpensive lunch,” she said. “It’s a place where someone can walk from the county center or the courts and get something quick to eat while they sit and enjoy the view.”

The pump house will be open seasonally during lunch hours seven days a week. During summer Townscape concerts and other park events, Muma plans to sell snacks and beverages like bottled water, iced teas and sodas.

Food will be stored in a mobile refrigerated case, which she can cart back and forth from the restaurant. Her lunch menu will begin with specialty salads and a “wrap of the day.” She hopes to offer soups during the fall.

“If there’s a demand for more options, I’ll start making them and bringing them over,” Muma said. “I have to see what there’s a need for.”

She is also considering selling local souvenirs and t-shirts for out-of-towners taking a stroll downtown.

“It’s about bringing some life back into this part of Riverhead,” she said.

Muma began her renovations with a power washer and bleach to clean the interior of the building. “It was awful,” she said. “There were all sorts of unspeakable things going on in there.”

She is now in the process of installing new shutters on the pump house’s windows. Though the shutters will look like they are made of wood, she explained, they are actually made of steel to keep the building secure. “They can’t be ripped up or burnt down,” she said. “They’re safe.”

A sliding steel door, which will also look like wood, will be installed in the empty doorway. Muma plans to do business through the doorway or through one of the pump house’s windows.

Muma will also mount LED lights to the light posts surrounding the building to illuminate the pump house at night. The lights will be equipped with cutoffs to prevent light pollution.

The old pump house is a building rich with history. Grangebel Park was originally the site of a water-powered flour mill, which burned down in 1879. It was turned into a private park in 1892 by Timothy Griffing, who named it “Grangebel Park” after his three daughters: Grace, Angeline and Mabel.

Griffing went on to found the Riverhead Water Company, which would eventually be taken over by the town in 1914. But first, he built the pump house in the middle of the park in 1907, where it still stands today. See more on the history of Grangebel Park.