Project Most Set To Renovate Historic Neighborhood House In East Hampton For New Learning Center

EAST HAMPTON, NY — Project Most, the year-round extracurricular enrichment program serving children and families on the East End, has unveiled new plans for the renovation of the historic Neighborhood House — as the new home for the Project Most’s Learning Center.

The new plans feature the restoration, renovation and addition to the historic building, located at 92 Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, Project Most said.

East End architect Val Florio, Drew Bennett of D.B. Bennett Engineering and the leadership team have collaborated on the design of the new center.

"The Neighborhood House has served the East Hampton community in many important ways since the 1850s — as a place of care, gathering, learning, and support — and the design for the Project MOST Learning Center was guided by a desire to preserve that legacy while allowing the building to continue evolving in a meaningful way," Florio said. "The additions have been designed in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, ensuring that new construction remains clearly secondary to, and respectful of, the original structure. Rather than competing with the historic building, the design celebrates its scale, materials, and character."

The Project Most team said it's been integral to honor the history of the building in the renovation.

"Great care was taken to ensure that the project does not alter the established character of the neighborhood, from maintaining the historic roadside presence to providing extensive landscape screening and thoughtfully locating the most active program spaces at the lower level of the new structure to minimize impact," Florio said.

The new Learning Center will feature classrooms for enrichment programs both academic and creative, a larger multi-use space for athletics and performing arts and a New York State Department of Health-approved kitchen for culinary arts programs, officials said.

The new Project Most Learning Center will allow for the expansion of existing programming, which includes after-school enrichment activities featuring academic support, S.T.E.M., arts and culture and health and wellness programs; and the iGROW Summer Learning Lab, a summer program offering hands-on experiences.

"Additionally, an area dedicated to the history of Freetown, where the building is rooted, will honor the cultural and social significance of the site, reinforcing its role as a community anchor — not just for today’s children and families, but as a preserved and living piece of East Hampton’s history. It is our intention to pursue listing of the Neighborhood House on the State and National Registers of Historic Places as part of this effort," Florio said.

The new plans have been received favorably by both the East Hampton town board and the architectural review board, Project Most said.

Chip Rae, chair of the architectural review board, said, in his letter to the town planning board: "This board enthusiastically endorses this application. For all the 20th century and beyond the Neighborhood House was the social and cultural heartbeat of this town’s working-class community. As a community institution it has served dozens of purposes for over 140 years, from being the local hospital to providing a safe haven for children after school."

"The overwhelming support for our new Learning Center plans has energized our vision. We are dedicated to building a welcoming space that offers enriching experiences and dependable, affordable youth programs for East End families," Rebecca Taylor, executive director of Project Most, said.