The Town of Rye wants $100,000 from the state to figure out what to do with the empty, crumbling interior of the landmark tower at Rye Town Park.

The Rye Town Park Commission applied for the grant through the Empire State Development Strategic Planning and Feasibility Studies Program, the Rye Record reported Aug. 24.

If awarded, the money would fund a community-driven master planning process, including focus groups with stakeholders, to determine how the 1910 Oakland Beach building should be used next.

The tower is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its exterior was restored using $500,000 raised privately by the Friends of Rye Town Park, and separate state grants paid for new outdoor showers and a renovated bathhouse with modern bathrooms at the 28-acre park and beach.

Beach permit offices have moved from the tower to the bathhouse, but the tower's interior remains dilapidated. The park commission once held its meetings inside. Now the building sits vacant.

Town Administrator Debbie Reisner said the grant would support an intermunicipal master planning effort for the tower. She described the study's purpose as "conceptualizing the future function for the tower building."

"We will share ideas, and create a shared framework for stewardship, heritage interpretation, and future intermunicipal action," Reisner said.

The application rules out commercial uses like restaurants or hotels. Instead, it envisions the space for environmental education, arts and community purposes.

Nothing in the application would prevent the park commission from later seeking commercial proposals.

Diana Page, who leads the Friends of Rye Town Park, said the group wants the tower to become a community center with programming that fits the park's character.

"It could also provide a space for nonprofit organizations and neighborhood clubs to meet," Page said. "Its location right on the Long Island Sound makes it an ideal spot for a 'coastal classroom' for marine education."

The Friends' wish list includes educational workshops, fitness and wellness classes, youth programs, arts and crafts sessions and community meetings.

No public comment deadline or community meeting date has been announced for the planning process. A state decision on the grant is expected by late November.