After more than a year of discussion and negotia­tions, Amityville Village has entered into a mutual land swap, acquiring the property immediately east of the new Village Hall at 15 Ireland Place, in exchange for the site the Village owns on the south side of Merrick Road across from Legend Auto. Mayor Peter T. Imbert said the exchange provides the Village with two ma­jor advantages. First, it opens the area up around Vil­lage Hall, creating a more esthetic view of the Village’s Town Hall building. Second, it provides additional parking for the business district and creates an unhin­dered transition from the Village’s parking lots behind the stores on Broadway off of Greene Avenue.

“There really were a multitude of issues surrounding that site and I wanted to acquire it from day one be­cause it blocked in Village Hall and because I believed taking down the building would complete the overall site,” said Imbert. “Thenwe kept hearing from the mer­chants who said they needed more parking in the rear of the stores, so we decided to aggressively pursue ac­quiring that land.”

The site was owned by John H. (Hal) Schad, a local resident and businessman. He said he initially did not want to give up the building, but knew that it was im­portant to the Village. “I had two hats on at the same time,” said Schad in discussing the recent exchange. “The first was that of a resident who recognized the value of that land to the Village, and the other was as a businessman who had to be concerned with making the right financial deci­sion.” Both the Village and Schad had appraisals done on the Ireland Place property. The Village’s came in at approximately $650,000, while Schad’s came in at $800,000. The Village also had an appraisal done on the Merrick Road site, which came in with a value of $750,000. In the end, the Village and Schad agreed on a value of $700,000 for each of the sites and entered into the land swap.

“I think it was a good deal for both sides,” said Bruce Kennedy, the Village’s attorney. “There’s no question that the site was important to the Village because it not only opens up the area but provides more downtown parking.”

The153 Merrick Road site was purchased by the Village in 2003. At the time, the Village issued bonds for the building and was con­sidering using it for a south firehouse. Over the years those plans changed, however, said Imbert. “In discussions with the fire chiefs since that time, we learned that they were now more interested in eventually expanding the main firehouse,” he said.

To defray the cost of the purchase of the lot onMer­rick Road, the Village leased the site to Legend Auto, a lease agreement that will continue, at least in the short run, said Schad. “Given the current state of the econo­my, I am not planning anything for the property right now,” he said. “Down the road…who knows?”

Following a Village Board meeting late last month, where the Mayor was authorized to turn the deed for the Merrick Road site over to Schad and accept the deed for the 15 Ireland Place site, the Village initiated the razing of the building on Ireland Place. Within a couple of hours, the building was down. Crews contin­ue to work there, cleaning it up and filling in the base­ment. While no plans for the site have been finalized, Village officials said they expect to construct a memo­rial park there with a flag pole, perhaps the Eagle from the old Police Headquarters, benches, shurbs, etc, as well as additional parking. Funding for that project will hopefully come from Community Development funds and grants they said.