By J.W. Oliver
The former Samoset Restaurant in New Harbor was demolished Feb. 20 to clear the way for a new restaurant.
Bristol contractor O.W. Holmes Inc. knocked down the 44-year-old building.
O.W. Holmes Inc. employee Frank Sprague brings down a wall at the former Samoset Restaurant in New Harbor, Feb. 20. Construction of a new restaurant will start in April. (Photo courtesy Sherrie Tucker, http:// www.sherrietucker.com) |
The demolition follows the Jan. 2 sale of the building and the surrounding property from Samoset of New Harbor Inc. to Bristol Entertainment LLC.
Xavier Cervera, a real-estate developer and restaurateur, owns Bristol Entertainment LLC.
The Round Pond company RPC Builders LLC will start construction on the new restaurant in April. Ryan Cox, of Round Pond, owns RPC Builders.
Construction will take about five months, Cervera said.
Cervera has a background in the development of condominiums, hotels and restaurants in Charleston, S.C., Miami Beach, Fla. and Washington, D.C.
He lives in Round Pond several months out of the year. He quickly arranged to purchase the Samoset when he heard the previous proprietors, Chad McKernan and Erin Reeves, were
going to close the restaurant at the end of 2013.
He did not want the Bristol peninsula to lose its only year-round restaurant, he told The Lincoln County News in October 2013.
He plans to replace it with a pub-style restaurant featuring affordable, high-quality food and a large bar area with big-screen televisions.
McKernan and Reeves will probably return to run the restaurant. “They have first dibs,” Cervera said.
Cervera also owns the condominium project and marina at 75 Main St. in Newcastle, where construction is currently underway. The Newcastle project should be complete by mid-
August, Cervera said.
