New Life For North Fork Building With Ties To Einstein

SOUTHOLD, NY — There's new life in store for the Rothman’s Department Store building, located at 54180 Main Road in Southold — complete with an outdoor square that will give a nod to the Einstein legacy that's long been a hallmark of the space.

“Having so much respect for its 100-year history and knowing how much of Southold’s past this building has been part of, we’ve made it our mission to ensure that it is ready to play a vital role in the next 100 years,” said Southold resident Jonathan Tibett, new co-owner of the building.

Tibett said the plan is to re-purpose the building with an eye on the needs of the community today while still remaining rooted in the culture of yesterday.

"We see this as a space for connecting and gathering, anchored by a square just outside," Tibett said.

Co-owner Glenn Heidtmann Jr., a fourth generation contractor, who has lived in Southold for more than 40 years, said there is a commitment to honor the building's rich history.

To that end, a marble sculpture depicting Albert Einstein will be sited in the center of the outdoor space, dubbed Einstein Square, "as an ode to the unlikely friendship of the great scientist and David Rothman that started during the summer of 1939," the owner said.

Moving forward, the building will maintain its current commercial and residential status, with a street-level storefront and soon-to-be refurbished living spaces upstairs.

The developers plan to create an "active, sociable destination and open-air meeting place which will feature ample seating and green space," a release said — with the intention of offering a setting that offers a "respite from the world, right in the center of town."

The longtime previous owner of the building, and David Rothman's grandson Ron Rothman, said he's moved into the Gallery next door. In its various incarnations, the space he now occupies has been an appliance and bedding store, he noted.

Over the past six months he's moved the guitars and the rest of the store into the new space.

He's thrilled to see the plans for his longtime space unfold. "Part of the selling point was that whomever took it it on could make the original store the 'Gem of Southold,'" he said. "Jonathan and Glenn are out to do just what was described. The 'Einstein' connection is the draw — the space can be the destination that can become the focal point of downtown Southold."

Rothman said there is no doubt that Einstein left his mark on Southold."It's a big part of our history," he said.

According to the Southold Historical Society website, Einstein, who died in 1955, summered in Southold during the summers of 1937, 1938 and 1939.

During the summer of 1939, he wrote and mailed his "famous letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Fellow scientists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner came to visit Einstein on July 16, 1939 — a visit that would lead to the creation of the now infamous letter. The letter would set the United States on the path to the creation of the first Atomic weapons to ever be used in a military conflict."

The house Einstein rented was located on West Cove Road on Nassau Point, and still stands today, though it is privately owned and not open to the public.

"During Einstein's tenure there he was always wary of curiosity seekers and those trying to snap a photograph of him. Local resident and postman Albert Richmond noted 'You let Einstein come to you,' not the other way around," according to the SHS.

In addition, the SHS added, Rothman and Einstein enjoyed "musical interludes at the Rothman house in Southold."

The Southold Historical Society owns an original Einstein letter as well as copies of many others sent to friends here in Southold, as well as photos.

Patch courtesy photo.