Suffolk News-Herald

Planters Club – where generations of Suffolk residents have danced, married and socialized – may not be available after next year.

The city’s 20-year lease with the clubhouse’s owner, the Richard Bennett Trust, expires next year. Negotiations for a new lease are ongoing and should be resolved this fall, said Lakita Frasier, director of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Her department leases the clubhouse off Sleepy Hole Road to residents for various social functions.

For now, the city is not taking any new reservations for Planters Club, Frasier said.

All rental obligations for prior to July 2005 will be honored, she added.

Richard Harlow, president of the Bennett Trust, declined to comment, saying he is not in a position to discuss the matter.

Planters Peanut magnate Amedeo Obici built the clubhouse in 1927 for his employees to use. In 1980, the Bennett Trust purchased the waterfront clubhouse from Obici’s heirs, investing in a new kitchen and filling in a swimming pool.

The city in 1985 signed a 20-year lease on the property.