ACAC picks over a proposal for a park with playground equipment next to the hamlet’s municipal parking lot.

As an arctic blast blows across East Hampton Town heralding the start of winter, swimming enthusiasts can take heart. Wednesday, the Sarah and Maurice Iudicone Aquatic Center, a project years in the making, opened at the Montauk Playhouse Community Center.

This photo from The Star’s archive shows Alfred James LaBatti (1922-1971) performing as “the Wreck” at Guild Hall in 1944.

The unceremonious bulldozing of roughly four semi-wooded acres on Marsden Street was a shocking sight to Sag Harbor residents earlier this month, though plans to develop the property have loomed — and sparked controversy in the village — for decades.