Southampton clock tower cellphone bid dies

A proposal to install cellphone antennas inside a Southampton Village church clock tower was denied Wednesday night, closing the latest chapter in a months-long community dispute pitting historical preservation against the bottom line.

The village's Board of Historical Preservation and Architectural Review unanimously denied MetroPCS' plan to put four wireless antennas in the First Presbyterian Church's clock tower. In its written decision, the board cited threats to the property's "historic character."

Church officials -- who had supported the plan due to its financial benefits for the congregation -- said they weren't surprised by the decision. The board has voiced concerns with three different versions of the plan presented since July 2011.

"It seemed the board was predisposed to opposition of the proposal," said Wayne Bruyn, a member of First Presbyterian's board of trustees.

The plan proposed adding wireless antennas to the interior of the church's clock tower, which houses a hand-cranked timepiece that is "one of the finest unaltered tower clocks still in existence," said Tim Corwin, a Southampton jeweler.

Corwin's family has maintained the 1887 E. Howard & Co. clock for five generations, a tradition that would end because the proposal would replace the clock with an automated one.

New York-based architect Simon Thoreson, whose work includes restoration of Southampton's Whitefield condos, applauded the decision.

"If you don't look after your historic structures, pretty soon you won't have them," he said.

The MetroPCS plan required removing four 8-foot sections of original wood surrounding the clock's faces. The area represented less than 1 percent of the church's exterior, MetroPCS legal counsel Keith Brown said during a June 27 board meeting, and it would have been covered by fiber-reinforced polymer that would "exactly mimic" the church's siding.

"The proposed changes . . . will not alter the features of the church at all," he said. "This type of installation has become commonplace and is being used by owners of historic properties around the world."

Last year, First Presbyterian -- the oldest such congregation in the country -- inked a two-year deal with MetroPCS. The company would pay "in the ballpark" of $2,000 a month, Bruyn said.

Though First Presbyterian boasted nearly 1,000 members in the 1950s, church officials said, its congregation has dwindled to about 400 today. At the same time, maintenance costs for the church, built in 1843, have continued to increase.