Brookhaven OKs ice rink, warehouse project at a former Dowling College site in Shirley

Brookhaven Town has granted final approvals for a combination warehouse-ice rink project at Dowling College's shuttered aeronautics school off William Floyd Parkway in Shirley.

When completed, the three-building, 596,000-square-foot warehouse complex would rank among the largest distribution centers on Long Island.

The $190 million project, which also calls for refurbishing the defunct college's decaying ballfields and reopening them as part of a new town park, would give Brookhaven its first municipal ice skating facility, officials said.

Supervisor Dan Panico said the park "is sorely needed and has been desired by the Shirley community."

The 105-acre site has been largely vacant for a decade since Oakdale-based Dowling closed amid declining enrollment and mounting debt. The Shirley site had hosted both Dowling's aviation school and some of the college's athletic facilities.

The park, including the rink and ballfields, will be built on the north end of the property, with privately operated warehouses occupying the southern portion of the site.

The Brookhaven Town Board, acting as the planning board, voted 7-0 Thursday to approve site plans for both aspects of the project. Site plans are maps detailing the locations of buildings, parking lots and other features.

A lawyer for New Jersey-based developer Hampshire Ventures, Christopher E. Kent, of Hauppauge, said he couldn't estimate when construction will be completed or when the rink and ballfields will open.

He said it was too soon to line up tenants for the warehouses, adding they would not be "last-mile" distribution centers. 

On Thursday, Shirley resident Taralynn Reynolds said the warehouses appeared to be unnecessary, adding they would add too much truck traffic to the area.

"I don't believe that there will not be a traffic impact. There always is," said Reynolds, outreach director of Group for the East End, an environmental conservation nonprofit in East Hampton and Southold. "I don't understand why we need more warehouses when in the Town of Brookhaven, we already have vacant warehouses."

The rink-and-warehouse project had faced little opposition since Hampshire Ventures proposed it in early 2024. The one major hurdle was quickly resolved two years ago when the company agreed to close a vehicle entrance and exit on a residential street near the site.

The developer also agreed to pay the town a $2.24 million land use fee for future open space land purchases elsewhere in Brookhaven, and to preserve about 15 acres at the Shirley site as open space between the facilities and neighboring homes, Newsday previously reported. 

Hampshire Ventures bought the property from international shopping mall and hospitality giant Triple Five Aviation Industries LLC and donated half of it to the town for the rinks and ballfields, officials said.

Renderings furnished by Hampshire Ventures show the ice rink as having a Quonset-hut design with a curved roof.

Officials said the rink will include two ice sheets totaling about 81,000 square feet, providing space for both ice hockey and recreational skating. The rink will include spectator seating, concession stands and locker rooms for players and referees.  

That last part drew praise from Keith Groshans, of Selden, who pulled off a sweater to reveal his USA Hockey referee jersey.

"We're a very pro-focused hockey family," said Groshans, who officiates local matches and added his family is looking forward to completion of the new rink.

By Carl MacGowan

carl.macgowan@newsday.comCarlMacGowan

Carl MacGowan is a Long Island native who covers Brookhaven Town after having previously covered Smithtown, Suffolk County courts and numerous spot news and feature stories over his 20-plus year career at Newsday.