Bavarian Inn - Still There, Still Hazardous

By Erica Jackson

Bavarian Inn Sept. 1, 2010

At one time the Bavarian Inn in Lake Ronkonkoma was a must stop for soon-to-be brides and fiancés’ in their search for a perfect wedding reception location. It offered German cuisine at its finest. Smithtown High School’s German Club held its annual banquet there and it housed a restaurant that many local residents frequented. That is until four years ago when it was shut down by the Smithtown Fire Marshall.

The property, which had been a pinnacle of the community for many years, succumbed to the rising water table. The basement flooded with water that was dangerously making its way to electrical wiring.  A fire, reported the fire marshall, would be imminent. 

Waterlogged and boarded up, the property has sat delinquent since. Police have been  called to the site with reports of break-ins and drug use.  

However, if 12th district Suffolk County Legislator John M. Kennedy, Jr., who wed his wife, Leslie at the catering hall many years ago, has anything to do with it, the property will soon be transformed into a county park. 

For months now, Kennedy has been working to obtain funding and work out details to provide for a county purchase of the land that was once on the market for $1.2 million.  Last month, however, there was a breakthrough and Kennedy says he is much closer to bringing the deal to a close. 

“The message is that this a work in progress,” said Kennedy.

 

 

Late in September, Kennedy met with the owner of the property, Vincent Tramantano, and his attorney, John Zollo, of Smithtown, in an effort to put some information together for a grant application that would help garner the funds necessary to purchase the property. 

The grant, said Kennedy, would come in the form of $1.1 million from the New York State Emergency Management Office (SEMO).  SEMO has preliminarily approved a letter of intent for funding for the purchase 

said Kennedy.

Details and information are still needed to complete the deal. The information is mostly related to nearly $2 million in debt that that property owners have accrued, including some $180,000 in back taxes.  

Many creditors, said Kennedy will be looking for some kind of payment.  That is where, according to Kennedy the sale gets messy.  But, he says everything can be worked out.  He said, “Once we have money from SEMO, we can sit down with the creditors and work on a settlement.”

Kennedy says an option to take the property for nonpayment of taxes was ruled out. He fears that if the county was to take the property on back-taxes, the creditors would cure on the taxes and ask for more money for the property.  Suffolk County has already started a foreclosure process, said Kennedy.

The final grant application was submitted to SEMO by a September 21 deadline.  “We are going to keep plugging away on this,” said Kennedy. 

Once the property is acquired,  the county will look to adjoin the Bavarian Inn property to the county’s Lake Ronkonkoma County Park.  The catering hall will be demolished, the asphalt parking lot removed, and old septic rings that are an environmental hazard will be dug up and removed.

Once finished, the site will feature boating ramps, benches, and a handicapped fishing pier.  “Anything passive can be placed there,” said Kennedy. 

The new park, will add to the beautification of the Lake Ronkonkoma area and it will coincide with other improvements being made to the area. Most recently 5th district Assemblywoman Ginny Fields obtained legislation that makes the 2-mile Lake Ronkonkoma waterway, which sits within three townships, Smithtown, lslip and Brookhaven, eligible for waterfront revitalization funding.

With funding, local civic groups hope to be able to create a unified park-setting, where park-goers could walk to and from each of the lake’s parks via a walking trail.  

Also working on improvements for the area is the Lake Ronkonkoma Advisory Board, which was created by a resolution of the Suffolk County Legislature.  Made up of of lawmakers and civic leaders, the board has been meeting on a regular basis to do its part to improve the blight of Lake Ronkonkoma.

SmithtownMatters.com attempted to contact Zollo, however, calls went unreturned.  In addition, calls were made to Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy’s office regarding the back taxes owed on the Bavarian Inn, however, no calls were returned as of press time.