PROJECTS
Sag Harbor Partnership works with community organizations and Sag Harbor Village government on projects that both preserve and enhance the character of this vibrant place.
THE MAIN STreet
sag harbor initiative
The Sag Harbor Partnership has launched a new initiative focused on preserving the unique character, diversity, and long-term vitalityof Sag Harbor’s Main Street business district.
Local residents and business owners have expressed growing concern about maintaining the unique mix of independent businesses, walkable comfort, and the local identity that keeps Sag Harbor intact.
After consulting with SHP Board Member Fred Thiele and Sag Harbor Cinema Board President John Aslchuler, we hired a renowned planning expert, Eric Rothman, former CEO of HRA Advisors, who works with for-profits and not-for-profits. He met with key community leaders, business owners, and residents to get their perspectives and to explore thoughtful strategies for the future, while considering successful small communities’ solutions like Nantucket’s, exploring New York State laws that can be implemented, etc. Phase 1 was completed with a preliminary report, but we now need tactical advice specific to the composition of our Village.
In order to start Phase 2, we need an additional $34,000, which will develop financial models for sustaining retail operations that serve our own community, looking at the “financial gap” between legacy, character-driven businesses and national retailers.
Our goal is to determine capital requirements and committed stakeholders necessary for establishing a public-private partnership or non-profit entity to ensure sustainable stewardship of core businesses.
These identifications will serve as a foundation roadmap that the Sag Harbor Partnership can present to Village and Town leaders, as well as to key donors, to catalyze implementation.
This effort is intended to support a vibrant, locally rooted downtown that continues to serve residents, businesses, and visitors alike for generations to come.
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO REALIZE THIS VITAL EFFORT!
And we’re the Partnership. We need everyone’s help, everyone’s commitment, and everyone’s serious attention to try to make this happen for ourselves and for future generations. Our Village representatives can’t do this alone, and neither can the Partnership.
We know you understand the problem. We know our residents and those in outlying villages and towns want to keep Sag Harbor intact. So please know that every dollar you can give helps, and every donation is deeply appreciated! AND TAX-DEDUCTIBLE!
saving the sag harbor firehouse museum!
Efforts are now officially underway to restore a wonderful Sag Harbor Village asset, which served as a museum honoring the extraordinary history of the first volunteer Fire Department on the East End of Long Island, also acknowledged to be the first Volunteer Fire Department in New York State.
This handsome 1833 building was originally built by the Presbyterian Church as a lecture hall and community meeting space before the Old Whaler’s Church opened its doors. It was acquired by the village in 1856 and served a variety of functions over the years, including as a village hall and jail, with a bell which will toll again!
The Sag Harbor Firehouse Museum functioned as a dream-come-true museum for children, with firetrucks, both miniature and full-scale, to be enjoyed; old leather fire buckets used in fire brigades; a colorful 20-foot mural hailing from a renovation that took place in the 1970s; filigrees and old fonts on elegant ancient proclamations; and many other charming, mysterious and colorful objects that made its history a joy to experience for people of all ages.
The Partnership is honored to have been chosen to shepherd its renovation and reopening, so that it will remain in the Village in perpetuity as a monument to the extraordinary history and heroism of our Fire Department here in Sag Harbor. It will also stand as an acknowledgement that reflects our history of pulling together in good times and bad, to keep our Village strong, and its community safe. It is a project we can all celebrate together!
We cannot do this without you!
SAG HARBOR WATER QUALITY INITIATIVE
In 2018, Sag Harbor Partnership worked with the Sag Harbor Yacht Club, Sag Harbor Village, and East Hampton and Southampton Town Trustees to raise funds for a study of the water quality in Sag Harbor. The two-year study (April–October in 2018 and 2019) was undertaken by Dr. Christopher Gobler of Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences in Southampton. We continue to support Dr. Gobler’s work, which is ongoing and essential to our health, environment, and prosperity