Southampton Head Start suddenly homeless with start of new school year just two weeks away

With just two weeks to go before the start of the school year, the Southampton Head Start program in Riverside finds itself suddenly homeless.

Renovations at the Riverside center on Flanders Road this summer disclosed unsafe structural conditions in the building which prevent its occupancy and use, according to Southampton Town officials.

The town set to work constructing an extension of the building in a courtyard between the main structure and a second building that was to be occupied by Children’s Museum of the East End. When workers opened up the exterior wall adjoining the courtyard, they made a stunning discovery: the steel studs inside the wall had rusted out at the bottom and were detached from the steel footing along the floor — rendering the building structurally unsound, Southampton Town Council Member Tommy John Schiavone said.

The condition was caused by the building foundation being about 12 inches too low and the slope of the land causing water to flow toward the walls, instead of away from them, Town Engineer Tom Houghton said on Friday during a tour of the facility.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do with this yet,” Schiavone said. But it doesn’t seem like the damage can be feasibly repaired, he said, at least not in time for use this fall.

As it is, the building is unsafe for occupancy, he said. Schiavone questioned whether the building can be repaired at all, or whether it should be demolished and a new structure erected.

Unless Southampton Head Start can quickly find an alternative location, it has no place to care for the 85 children enrolled in its preschool program that’s scheduled to begin Sept. 4,  Long Island Head Start Director of Operations Annette Harris said in a phone interview Monday.

The organization has been scouring the area for available space, so far without any luck. Both Southampton and Riverhead towns have said they don’t have any room in town buildings, Harris said.

“We’re sort of at the mercy of the  community,” she said. 

“We really need to find another home for these children expeditiously. We service 85 families who, right now, as we speak, have no place to go. We’ve been calling local churches. We’ve been calling different places we feel that may have room. Some people have been very nice, but haven’t been able to help us,” Harris said. 

“But right now, I don’t have a concrete plan, and we’re getting a little nervous, because we do plan to still open Sept. 4, but we don’t have anything concrete,” she said.. 

The Office of Children and Family Services, which must issue a license for any new location, told Long Island Head Start they will expedite the process if the organization finds a location. 

“Everybody’s really, really willing to work with us,” Harris said. 

The Riverhead Head Start program, located at the former parish school at St. John the Evangelist Church, is “maxed out” with 88 children there, Harris said. 

Southampton Town has been trying to work with us, Harris said. “They’ve been very nice. But they said they just don’t have any space right now. We do have to move out, so we need storage space. We’re not even  really sure where we’re going to put the rest of our things,” she said. 

“It’s just a big mess.”

The Southampton Head Start facility on Flanders Road in Riverside was built by the town in 1991, Houghton said. The town leases it to Long Island Head Start of $1 per month. The main building consists of several classrooms as well as a well-appointed commercial kitchen. Meals for three Head Start programs are prepared at the Riverside facility, Schiavone said— which adds another layer of complication for the organization.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do at this point,” Schiavone said. The town has no other available space, he said.

The rusted steel studs were discovered by contractors about two weeks ago. 

Renovation plans called for sealing off the construction area so the rest of the facility could be occupied by the program while work was underway.

On Friday afternoon, Schiavone and Houghton hung signs on the temporary fencing that prevents access to the site. Southampton Head Start is “under construction,” the signs say, advising interested persons to call the center supervisor for more information.

“We have parents expecting to come, and right now we have nowhere for them to come,” Harris said Monday. 

Head Start, which dates back to 1965 — it was initiated as part of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society program — provides free preschool for families living below the poverty level. 

“They depend on us to provide these quality services for them,” Harris said. 

They need the services in order to be able to work, she said. “They really have no alternatives.”