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BRENTWOOD'S
CHANGING FACE:
Sun shines on depot cafe
Solar power to energize eatery in old station
BY MATT BURKE STAFF WRITER March 14, 2004
After December 1987, when it was replaced by a modern
station nearby, the old Long Island Rail Road depot in
Brentwood was vacant for years - an eyesore to local residents
and a haven for drug users and dealers. Now, after six
years of planning and construction, Christopher Castro
is getting ready to open the Solar Cafe there. It's the
first cafe on Long Island to use solar energy, and possibly
the first in the nation. "This [site] used to bother
me," said Castro, a Brentwood resident for 15 years.
"The fact that this was such a terrible area, it
just dawned on me one day: This would be a great place
to marry all the things I've ever done." Castro,
42, combines his experience putting solar energy into
homes as the owner of Brentwood-based Solymar, and his
family's experience owning Castro's Gourmet Bakery Cafe
in Freeport, which closed in 1998. The organic way The
Solar Cafe will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner in a
newly constructed dining area that seats 49. The original
station, built in 1903, will house a separate area for
coffee and baked goods. Castro said the cafe, at 1 First
Ave., in Brentwood, should be open in about two months.
It will have a healthier menu than many restaurants, and
will use organic fruits, vegetables and meats as well
as juices and natural sweeteners other than sugar. Keeping
with the cafe's overall theme of being environmentally
responsible, Castro said he hopes to expand the amount
of energy the cafe gets from the sun. "The goal is
in the future to keep expanding to add more solar panels
and maybe try to make it the first solar cafe in the nation
that is exclusively solar," Castro said. "It
was a budgetary constraint that we could only put that
much solar in." The cafe paid $50,000 for its 5-kilowatt
system, which includes 48 solar panels. Castro said 50
percent to 60 percent of the cost for installing solar
panels was rebated through LIPA's Solar Pioneer Program.
It provided incentives of $4.50 for every watt of solar
energy installed. Helping hands Construction began August
2002. Castro received help from the Sierra Club and the
Green Party, which brought in volunteers to help build
it, as well as other environmental groups and Brentwood
residents. In exchange for their help, those groups can
hold their meetings at the cafe. Historic cutting-edge
"It's a great place for us in terms of a place where
people can meet," said Ian Wilder, New York co-chair
of the Green Party. Castro "is renovating something
historical and at the same time bringing in a cutting-edge
business for the community." Without community support,
Castro said the project would not have been successful.
"This [site] became a major problem for the town
and the community responded and said: 'Yes, we want to
clean up this area.'" Gene Murphy, commissioner of
Planning for the Town of Islip, agreed. He said the old
train station was "by far the biggest problem in
terms of vacancy in the town." The Long Island Rail
Road still owns the property, and has leased it to Castro
for 15 years. There were limited proposals submitted over
the years to use the site, said Sam Zambuto, LIRR spokesman.
"It was such a challenge to find a new use because
it's such an unusual building with a small size,"
said Pamela Greene, an Islip Town Board council member.
"We were hopeful it would be redeveloped. Boarded
up buildings are certainly not attractive in downtown
areas." Two additions will be the kitchen and dining
area. The entire building, including the original station,
is 3,000 square feet. Castro hopes to continue building
solar homes, but acknowledged the cafe could soon occupy
most of his time. "If we get the people, the customers
and the attention that I think we're going to get, this
is very quickly going to become a full-time thing. Things
look pretty good right now for this project."
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