Brookhaven's $5.7M Records Center Will Have 'No Equal' Once Complete

BELLPORT, NY — The Town of Brookhaven has begun a multi-million-dollar renovation of its Regional Record Center in Bellport, officials announced Wednesday.

The state-of-the-art improvements include temperature and humidity controls to meet New York Archival Standards; fire suppression improvements; additional security upgrades; workstations for digitizing records and additional storage space for villages and other local municipalities.

The renovations will be done in four phases expected to take up to 8 months to complete.

The renovation upgrades to the center include security, electrical, architectural, plumbing, fire suppression and alarms, lighting, vault space, climate and humidity controls, additional workstations and storage for villages and local municipalities, and an all-new mezzanine level that increases storage capacity by 80-to-85 percent.

The total cost of the building purchase and improvements was around $5.7 million.

The building was purchase for $2,9 million was paid for by a state Municipal Consolidation and Efficiency grant. Improvements, including an HVAC system for $405,000, and plumbing and fire suppression for $246,000, are paid for with American Rescue Plan Act grants. The $2.1 million engineering and construction work was paid for with bonds and a grant application is pending.

Town Clerk Kevin LaValle said there are "rows and rows of hard copy records that the down doesn’t need on a regular basis, but they must be safely preserved, stored, and copied digitally for easy access."

"Once the renovation is complete, the Town of Brookhaven will have a modern, state-of-the-art government record storage facility with no equal," he said, adding that he is grateful Supervisor Ed Romaine and Town Board supported the "groundbreaking project" and he looks forward to its completion.

Romaine credited LaValle for only being in office a few months, and making "a big impact by pushing ahead on the renovations at very little cost to Brookhaven Town taxpayers."

"I encourage other municipal agencies to contact the town clerk and tour our records storage facility to see if the services offered are a right fit," he said.