The 4-1 vote during the contentious board meeting came after Councilman Kenneth Rothwell — who was formerly staunchly opposed to The Jazz Loft’s bid — joining the majority in favor of the Stony Brook-based nonprofit.

Next step would be for the contract to be officially signed. Jazz Loft founder Tom Manuel’s nonprofit will pay $150,000 to purchase and run the landmark theater, with plans for a two-phase renovation.

“I agree that there seems to be some financial concerns about how they move forward, but in the final hours, they have philanthropists in town that have validated the work that they were doing, and intend to stand by them,” Mr. Rothwell said. “It has the potential to be a really great project, and those people have invested themselves in other projects within our town that have become very successful. I think with the proper guidance and backing of others, The Jazz Loft could be successful.” 

The approval came despite opposition from Councilman Bob Kern, who cast the lone dissenting vote, and a last-minute challenge from Mark Chroscielewski, a South Jamesport resident and founder of music venues Irving Plaza in Manhattan and Warsaw in Brooklyn, who proposed a competing bid with local builder Raymond Castronovo back in April.

Mr. Chroscielewski took to the podium to claim The Jazz Loft was not financially viable or qualified to run the operation. Mr. Kern expressed similar concerns before casting his dissenting vote.

“This is a town building, the taxpayers own that building,” Mr. Kern said. “In order for it to be successful, I think it needs to be a true performing arts center, so they can benefit the businesses downtown and visitors to Riverhead — with that, I vote no.”

During a heated exchange, Councilwoman Denise Merrifield refuted Mr. Chroscielewski’s claims of the renovations costing millions of dollars, including safety upgrades. The estimated total combined costs for the project would be over $300,000, according to an initial investigation conducted by Joel Snodgrass of Steward Preservation Services.

Thomas Glennon, Mr. Chroscielewski’s business partner, aired his frustrations on Zoom and claimed he hired an architect and engineer to survey the Vail-Leavitt space, who identified “serious issues,” such as the need for a sprinkler system installation and ADA-compliant elevator.

“I know it’s going to take at least $500,000 to a million dollars to put in a new sprinkler system in the building, to put in an ADA-compliant elevator, to put a mechanical system in to make it code compliant,” Mr. Glennon said. “I’m assuming that in their proposal, they capture all this stuff.”

The councilwoman continued to defend The Jazz Loft’s qualifications and took offense to a remark made about the lengthy process of selecting a buyer, as well as Mr. Chroscielewski’s assertion that The Jazz Loft was not able to secure donors.

“It took so long in the process because you kept coming back, whether it was executive session or whether it was work sessions, with different proposals one after another,” Ms. Merrifield said to Mr. Chroscielewski . “You say it was delayed because [Mr. Manuel] couldn’t find donors — that’s not true at all. In fact, he missed grant opportunities because this board kept listening to different versions of the operation you want to do, which is not viable.”

“It’s 10 years in operation, already fully functioning, huge audiences all the time,” the councilwoman continued. “Just saying that they don’t know what they’re doing is really disingenuous.”

In response to complaints about the town never issuing a Request for Proposal, town attorney Erik Howard said due to the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall’s property falling under the urban renewal area category, the Riverhead Town Board is not required to put out an RFP.

“The process is designed to be more flexible, so that the town board can identify a qualified and eligible sponsor that will, in their assessment, have the best chance of redeveloping the distressed property,” Mr. Howard said. “There’s nothing in this process that has been done incorrectly.”

Representatives of The Jazz Loft stated their case at the Oct. 16 qualified and eligible hearing, where they mentioned that in the last five years, ticket revenues have exceed $3 million at The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook. In terms of working capital, The Jazz Loft has $256,000 in cash and $850,000 in equity.

The Jazz Loft’s operators estimated that the reopening of the Vail-Leavitt would create one to two full-time and two to five part-time employment opportunities. If the theater were to host one show per month with approximately 150 people attending, The Jazz Loft @ The Vail could potentially bring in an annual revenue stream of at least $89,000. That figure could increase to $356,500 if the facility hosted even more performances.

At the hearing, Mr. Manuel said one of the key factors to The Jazz Loft’s success over the years is the support from generous donors and community members who fuel new concert series. For this Riverhead project, Alan Fishbein, an Aquebogue resident and founder of North Fork Investors, LLC, and Brian Stark of Jamesport endorsed The Jazz Loft @ The Vail.

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If the $150,000 sale with Riverhead Town goes through, Mr. Manuel said The Jazz Loft @ The Vail could commence renovations of nearly 145-year-old landmark theater early next year.

The Vail-Leavitt Music Hall was founded in 1881 — making it the oldest theater in downstate New York, according to its website — and has hosted countless theatrical, musical and cultural presentations over the past century. The building is also listed on the national and state Registers of Historic Places. 

A three-decades long dispute between the Council for the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall and the Town of Riverhead reached its conclusion in October 2023, when town officials repossessed the venue.

Since then, the historic space has remained unoccupied. However, as the next steward of the Vail-Leavitt, Mr. Manuel ensured town officials The Jazz Loft would embrace its history and push the music hall towards a vibrant, active future in the Riverhead community.

“Miraculously, this theater has survived unscathed for over 144 years — despite changes on its main floor, the important theater upstairs has proven to be a survivor,” Mr. Manuel said. “Vail-Leavitt has survived hurricanes, floods and fire. It survived being used as a Chinese food restaurant, a roller rink, a cold storage facility and decades of minimal and idle use. It has survived many owners, countless town boards, and I have a feeling it will outlive all of us too.”

With its home base at 275 Christian Ave. in Stony Brook, The Jazz Loft presents a variety of jazz music styles and hosts more than 200 events annually, including the Swing Into Spring Festival and the free Harbor Jazz Festival. Its museum holds 30 archival collections from well known jazz performers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett, as well as other rotating art and photography collections.

The nonprofit’s tripart mission is to provide performance, education and preservation.

Christopher Paradysz, a trustee of The Jazz Loft and director of the Monteleone: Art of the Guitar Festival, spoke about sources of funding and how the organization stays financially viable.

In the last five years, Mr. Paradysz said ticket revenues have exceed $3 million at The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook. In terms of working capital, he said The Jazz Loft has $256,000 in cash and $850,000 in equity.

The Jazz Loft’s operators estimated that the reopening of the Vail-Leavitt would create one to two full-time and two to five part-time employment opportunities. If the theater were to host one show per month with approximately 150 people attending, The Jazz Loft @ The Vail could potentially bring in an annual revenue stream of at least $89,000. That figure could increase to $356,500 if the facility hosted even more performances.

Mr. Manuel said one of the key factors to The Jazz Loft’s success over the years is the support from generous donors and community members who fuel new concert series. For this Riverhead project, Alan Fishbein, an Aquebogue resident and founder of North Fork Investors, LLC, and Brian Stark of Jamesport endorsed The Jazz Loft @ The Vail.

“I think these guys…have one of those products that can complement what the town is doing [downtown], and it’s going to be a destination,” Mr. Stark said. “If they have the financial ability, which they clearly do, the product is something that I believe people will come to Riverhead for.”

Like the Vail-Leavitt, the Jazz Loft building in Stony Brook is also a registered historic site, and in 2014 the nonprofit launched a capital campaign to restore the building. They then undertook a $500,000 renovation and held a grand reopening one year after building permits were secured, Mr. Manuel said.

Aside from the lineup of musical acts, The Jazz Loft is looking to expand educational opportunities to Riverhead with its new theater location as well.

Laura Landor, director of education and community outreach for The Jazz Loft, said the non-profit offers workshops for area music educators, performance opportunities for school groups and master classes for the youth. The organization expressed interest in collaborating with East End Arts as well.

“They perform and the joy that their parents have when they come out, and don’t have to sit in the school auditorium to hear their little jazz band play, and they get to actually hear this in a venue that was created for these ensembles,” Ms. Landor said. “Looking at the kids’ faces light up…it made me so happy that they got to take their ensemble out of their school auditorium and put it in a venue that’s designed for that music.”

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Riverhead town attorney Erik Howard confirmed the decision is not a “final determination,” but rather gets the process started for scheduling a qualified and eligible sponsor hearing, negotiating a contract of sale, securing appraisals, obtaining surveys, title searches and insurance and completing any other necessary documentation to sell the property. 

Mr. Howard noted that proposals from any other potential buyers can still be considered during these contract negotiations, but added that approval of the resolution allows the town to proceed with a public hearing on the sale. 

The decision to move ahead with The Jazz Loft offer followed much debate among board members, with councilmen Bob Kern and Kenneth Rothwell voting against the resolution due to concerns about the nonprofit relying solely on state grants for funding, limited variety in its genre of entertainment offerings and lack of public feedback on the proposed sale. 

“I do want to activate [The Vail-Leavitt] as soon as possible, but I think suddenly … there’s a race to the finish line here, without really getting insight on what the public needs,” Mr. Rothwell said.

Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard and councilwomen Joann Waski and Denise Merrifield voted with full support and confidence in The Jazz Loft, pointing out the support the nonprofit has received from the Riverhead community.

“The way that I see this is: ‘At Last’ we have somebody fully committed, vetted, able to go into the Vail-Leavitt that wants to see it come back alive again,” Ms. Waski said. “I don’t want to see it a year or two years from now, us still kicking it down the street — I want to see The Jazz Loft come in here and make beautiful music, I want to go there and I want to sing Ella Fitzgerald.”

Thomas Manuel, president and founder of The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook, said he has met multiple times with the Town Board over the last 16 months and gave a presentation on his vision for historic music hall at an April 10 work session.

“The vision is really to create a hub of activity to serve the community and to embody [Riverhead] Town’s slogan: ‘Work, stay, play, eat and live,’” Mr. Manuel said.

For the past nine years, the Jazz Loft has served as a social “home base” in Stony Brook, presenting a variety of jazz music styles and hosting more than 200 events annually, including the Swing Into Spring Festival in March and the free Harbor Jazz Festival. Its museum holds 30 archival collections from well known jazz performers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett, as well as other rotating art and photography collections.

The nonprofit’s tripart mission is to provide performance, education and preservation, and “advocate for the American-born art form called jazz.” Mr. Manuel said he hopes to transform “The Jazz Loft @ Vail” into an “incubator for educational events, collaborations with area arts organizations and businesses.”

The Jazz Loft’s operators estimated that the reopening of the Vail-Leavitt would create one to two full-time and two to five part-time employment opportunities. If the theater were to host one show per month with approximately 150 people attending, The Jazz Loft @ Vail could potentially bring in an annual revenue stream of at least $89,000. That figure could increase to $356,500 if the facility hosted even more performances.

“The purpose and agenda of a successful theater in a community has always been and continues to be a place for collaboration within a community,” Mr. Manuel said. “Over the last 25 years we’ve seen all of these [historic] theaters turn into these wonderful performing arts venues and all of them have been successful because they have embraced the identity of their community.”

Like the Vail-Leavitt, the Jazz Loft building in Stony Brook is also a registered historic site, and in 2014 the nonprofit launched a capital campaign to restore the building. They then undertook a $500,000 renovation and held a grand reopening one year after building permits were secured, Mr. Manuel said.

He assured board members that the nonprofit is “incredibly financially sound,” with a budget of more than $1 million for the purchase of the Vail-Leavitt. Following that acquisition, Mr. Manuel said, the nonprofit would rely on state grants to fund the renovations.

The Jazz Loft founder added that there needs to be “caution and care” when it comes to restoring historic buildings, so his proposed timeline will be subject to change. However, he said if the purchase goes through in the next month or so, he expects renovations can begin in early July and a grand opening can potentially be held by this fall.

Prior to Wednesday’s resolution to move ahead with the Jazz Loft, the board had been considering a separate bid from Raymond Castronovo. A local musician and owner of the Riverhead-based construction company Zenith Group LLC, Castronovo owns several historic properties in Riverhead and has restored multiple old homes and buildings in the area, including the Odd Fellows Lodge at 220 Roanoke Ave.

During his presentation at the April 10 work session, he mentioned support he has received from multiple connections in the music industry, including Mark Chroscielewski, a South Jamesport resident and founder of music venues Irving Plaza in Manhattan and Warsaw in Brooklyn; prominent concert promoter Ron Delsener; and Gary Hygom of The Suffolk. He also has experience working with grant writers on affordable housing projects and would use their expertise if he needed help obtaining entertainment grants.

“I hire people who are experts to handle all the different tasks to run the theater,” Mr. Castronovo said. “We want people to come into the streets of Riverhead, make it a destination, and not just a pass through.”

To foster Riverhead’s growth, Mr. Castronovo proposed an inclusive venue for all types of entertainment and music genres. He said he wants to create a space for concerts, performances, film festivals, comedy shows, acting classes, community events, a podcast studio and kids entertainment. He mentioned having connections to Broadway performers, as well, who he said would be eager to perform at the Vail-Leavitt.

Financially, Mr. Castronovo said he has “the horsepower” to get the Vail-Leavitt operational and sustainable, and would make his finances available for the Town Board to review, if requested.

“If I am granted the opportunity, I am going to make the Vail-Leavitt proud and bring it back to life,” he said. “When you start to see these type of [performers] starting to come out to the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall, there’s going to be an opportunity for a lot of people to follow.” 

Both Mr. Kern and Mr. Rothwell spoke in support of Mr. Castronovo, describing him as a successful individual who has already invested in Riverhead Town. Mr. Chroscielewski, who is in partnership with Mr. Castronovo, also spoke at Tuesday’s Town Board meeting prior to the vote about his experiences in the music industry and how he could help create a “thriving music scene” in downtown Riverhead.

Ms. Merrifield called Mr. Castronovo’s proposal “a hope and a prayer” that only offered only possibilities, not a concrete plan like The Jazz Loft put forth. When Mr. Kern suggested tabling the resolution and issuing a formal Request for Proposals, Mr. Hubbard shut the idea down. 

“We’re not going to hang on to that property for another year, paying for heat and maintaining it and hoping that the roof doesn’t get worse or anything else. It makes no sense to me, not at all,” Mr. Hubbard said. “We’ve been doing this for over a year, if [buyers] were interested, they should have stepped up.

“We reached out to our channels, and that’s who we got,” he continued. “We’ve got somebody that is more than perfect for this scenario. If we didn’t, I would agree with you wholeheartedly, but The Jazz Loft, in my mind, is a proven entity.”

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