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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All five former members of the Council of the Vail-Leavitt — president William Miller, treasurer Kira Atkins and council members Faye Lourenso, Robert Barta and Bruce MacDonald — resigned from their positions Oct. 6. 

The Council of the Vail-Leavitt turned over complete ownership of the 19th-century performance venue to the Riverhead Town Board — which officially accepted the council’s resignation at a Nov. 9 meeting. 

With five vacant seats to be filled, the town is now responsible to appoint its own personnel to these positions. At the meeting earlier this month, the board appointed Riverhead Town Supervisor Yvette Aguiar and Town Board members Tim Hubbard, Ken Rothwell, Bob Kern and Frank Beyrodt to the interim Vail-Leavitt board of directors. 

The interim board will hold another meeting within the next two weeks to elect permanent board members, according to the town’s resolution. 

“The Council must now be repopulated so as to continue the operation of the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall on an immediate basis and take actions to commence and ensure restoration of this historical and integral part of the fabric and character of Downtown Riverhead,” the resolution said. 

The board noted those interested in joining the new Vail-Leavitt Council may apply by submitting a letter and resume to the town clerk. 

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 and a half. The building is also listed on both the national and state Registers of Historic Places. 

This dispute between the Vail-Leavitt Council and Riverhead Town has been ongoing for nearly 30 years. Mr. Miller previously told the Riverhead News-Review the decision to surrender control of the theater came after the town filed a lawsuit against the council. 

Harold Smith, a past theater council president, and then-Riverhead Town supervisor Joseph Janoski signed an agreement March 18, 1982, to allow the nonprofit Council to purchase the theater using $40,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds, according to a previous Riverhead News-Review report. 

The agreement specified that the music hall must be used as a theater for public assembly in a condition that “maintains the historic integrity” of the building and offers “cultural and educational opportunities” to residents. 

The deed contained a reverter clause, which would grant Riverhead Town permission to reclaim ownership the music hall “if this provision is not kept by the council, or any succeeding group which might receive the structure should the council go out of existence,” the report said.

On May 17, town officials adopted a resolution to exercise this reverter clause and authorize legal action against the group to repossess the property due to concerns about the theater’s upkeep. 

Mr. Miller hand delivered a package to the Riverhead Town attorney on Oct. 6, which included a letter stating the Council would not proceed with any legal action to fight the lawsuit.

This package also included keys to the theater and a certificate confirming its status as a nonprofit organization. 

“After some discussions, the consensus was that the matter was beyond financial reach of the Vail and that relinquishment of the Council itself to the town was inevitable,” Mr. Miller wrote in his letter to the Riverhead Town Board. 

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The council has ceded the over 140-year-old venue to Riverhead Town officials, who adopted a resolution May 17 to authorize legal action against the group to repossess the property due to concerns about the theater’s upkeep. 

“We were pleasantly surprised, and happy they made the decision to give the theater back to the community,” said Dawn Thomas, director of community development for Riverhead Town. “The town hopes to reconvene, reconfigure and make a plan for it to be a very successful part of the economic development of the downtown.” 

William Miller, president of the theater council , said the group has withdrawn completely from stewardship of the theater as of this month and will not defend itself against the reported lawsuit the town filed in August. 

“We’re out of money,” Mr. Miller said. “We can’t fight this fight anymore.” 

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. 

Harold Smith, a past theater council president, and then-Riverhead Town supervisor Joseph Janoski signed an agreement March 18, 1982, to allow the nonprofit organization to purchase the theater using a $40,000 in Community Development block grant funds, according to a previous Riverhead News-Review report. 

The agreement specified that the music hall must be used as a theater for public assembly in a condition which “maintains the historic integrity” of the building and offers “cultural and educational opportunities” to residents. 

The deed contained a reverter clause, which would grant Riverhead Town permission to recover the music hall “if this provision is not kept by the council, or any succeeding group which might receive the structure should the council go out of existence,” the report said. 

A building condition survey conducted in January by the town’s community development department revealed that many parts of the building — specifically its roof and exterior facades— are generally inaccessible, and that specialized equipment would be required to address any issues in those areas. 

Adding up all the needed repairs, the survey projected the cost would total roughly $168,000.  

The ownership battle between the town and the Council for the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall has been ongoing since the late 1980s and early 1990s. In January 1990, the town received $290,000 from the state Urban Development Corporation to help with its downtown revitalization initiative, according to News-Review reports. 

At that time, the town was told it would also be eligible for a $300,000 State Environmental Quality Bond Act grant to restore Vail-Leavitt Music Hall — if the dispute between the two parties could be settled. 

In February 1990, the Riverhead Town Board issued an ultimatum to the theater’s council, demanding to get the deed back so the town would be eligible for this state matching grant. Mr. Janoski said if the Vail-Leavitt council would hand over the deed to the town, they would allow the council to continue managing the theater. 

However, under the town’s terms, the council were told they had to raise $150,000 in the first six months “to prove their fundraising capabilities.” If they didn’t, the council would “drop out of the picture,” Mr. Janoski said at the time. 

Members of the council at that time criticized the supervisor’s request. An editorial in the Feb. 1, 1990, Riverhead News-Review called it “an onerous task.” 

Fast-forward to present day, and Riverhead Town officials stand by the claim that the council did not fulfill its obligations to maintain the theater. Mr. Miller said council members have been active and doing “quiet work” on the buildings to meet the requirements of the town and the Riverhead Fire Department. 

“When the town says it is dilapidated, neglected and what have you — that’s not true,” he said. “You got a bunch of people who were looking after it, using their own money and whatever we could scrape up, and we kept it in pretty good shape.” 

Last year, Riverhead Town won a $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant. When town officials met to discuss how to distribute the money for projects, a proposal to make improvements to the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall was “unlikely to make the final cut,” according to previous reporting. 

The proposal requested $200,000 from the DRI grant to make these improvements. Town officials said the council needed to come up with a building plan and fill out a separate application to receive funding, which they allegedly failed to submit. 

Mr. Miller called this claim “baloney” and said the council filed two separate comprehensive business plans with the town. 

As for the future of the theater, Mr. Miller said he hopes the town can apply money from the DRI grant to the theater so it can keep going. Between the lack of seating in the venue and limited parking, he said, it is hard for the music hall to make money. 

“If we got somebody in there with money, it should work,” Mr. Miller said. 

Riverhead Town officials will have more information in the coming weeks on what they plan to do with the theater going forward. 

Kristy Verity, executive director of Riverhead’s Business Improvement District, said the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall is a “gem” of Riverhead that needs to be updated. 

She added that she’s aware the Town Board is working on forming a committee and looking for professionals in the theater industry and who manage historical venues to help steer them in the right direction. 

“It’s just a very underutilized space,” Ms. Verity said. “The entire venue needs to be refreshed — anything to help move that along, to see it take on some life and start becoming the wonderful theater that we had many years ago.” 

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“Once I saw the way that COVID was going, that’s the end of it,” said William Miller, president of the music hall’s council. “We shut down to save all the money we could and we lived on Shuttered Venue Operators Grants, [which] kept us going through.”

Those grants provided emergency assistance for eligible venues affected by the pandemic. 

The theater, which was established in 1881 —making it the oldest theater on Long Island or in New York City, according to its website — finally reopened almost a year and a half later.

Vail-Leavitt Music Hall is a nonprofit organization and its building is on the national and state Registers of Historic Places, but in order to raise funds for needed repairs, the hall’s technical director, James Gorman, reached out to connections in the music industry — and that became the Save The Vail program.

The Save the Vail program is a series of concerts that are held at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall in which the performers donate their talent and time to help build funding for the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall Restoration and Preservation fund.

“That funding all goes to just paying the bills and trying to set up a war chest to eventually get to the bigger stuff that has to get done,” Mr. Gorman said.

The top priority repairs include replacing the roof and the theater seats, electrical work and more.

“We’re starting from scratch,” Mr. Miller said, “You have a building that needs everything done to it, including literally turning it around — so we are no longer bringing in people off Peconic Avenue — to work with this town for the riverfront.” There have been four Save the Vail concerts so far. Frank Latorre and the King Bees kicked off the series in August and returned just before Halloween. Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks performed in September and Who Are Those Guys in October. 

Their latest show was with Frank Latorre and the King Bees just before Halloween on October 29. The concerts have been $20 for general admission, except for their last show which was $30 and included a raffle ticket.

The series has done very well and efforts to save and restore the 200-seat theater are spreading quickly through word of mouth, said Laura Gorman, who assists with public relations for the events.

“The best thing about [the concerts] is, it’s gotten rid of the impression that we’re closed,” Mr. Miller said. “There are people coming in; I haven’t seen an unhappy face in this place yet.”

The effort to restore this historic building is a labor of love, Mr. Gorman said. “It has to do more than just survive,” he said. “You have to feed it, it’s a living thing in a lot of ways, it can’t just exist.”

Donations are being accepted through PayPal and a GoFundMe campaign that are linked online at savethevail.org. To keep up with “Save the Vail” events, visit facebook.com/vailleavittmusichall.

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