The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
‘It’s been a struggle’
Middletown riverfront restaurant project renovations rise to $5M
MIDDLETOWN — Renovation and repair costs for the former Mattabesett Canoe Club, now estimated at about $5 million, have increased some 233 percent since the original $1.5 million projected budget two years ago.
Structural work on the steel supports for the cityowned building, which sits at Harbor Park on Middletown’s section of the Connecticut River, is underway on the first floor, which is expected to be done sometime next week, according to Common Council Majority Gene Nocera, chairman of the renovation committee.
So far, the city has replaced the entire HVAC system, put on a new roof, and made other repairs.
Co-owners of the popular Eli Cannon’s Tap Room on Main Street, husband and wife Rocco and Aubrey LaMonica, are eager to open a combination seafood restaurant, brewery, snack shack and walk-up ice cream window at the 5,163-square-foot building at 80 Harbor Drive.
The family-style eatery will be called Tate’s, after the daughter of Eli Cannon’s co-owners, who expected to sign a lease last May.
Last August, Rocco LaMonica said he was aiming to be open for the 2022 holidays.
Now, some four months later, Rocco LaMonica said Monday, the couple’s patience has been tried throughout the process. “Aubrey and I are extremely frustrated with the timeline at this point,” he said.
“The tenants don’t want to see any more delays, and I understand that. It’s been a struggle. None saw that we had to come in with a structural engineer to rework the steel on the inside,” Nocera said.
The city took ownership of the circa 1930 canoe club in 1958, according to assessor’s records, and formerly offered 25year leases.
Because renovations are so extensive on the 93year-old building, they must meet present-day building codes.
The property is considered an anchor of the riverfront, and a crucial first step toward Middletown’s master plan for redevelopment.
The original budget of the project, which began work in January 2021, was $1 million. That August, costs rose to $1.5 million. In all, $2.5 million came from the $55 million infrastructure bond.
Subsequently, another $2 million in ARPA funds were spent.
Nocera said Friday that up to another $1.5 million will be necessary to finish the project, bringing the final price tag close to $5 million.
Taxpayer dollars are not being used, Acting Director of Economic and Community Development Bobby Knoll Peterson said Monday.
Compounding the structural issues, 80 Harbor Drive is located in a flood plain, just feet from the Connecticut River.
“We are doing our best to make sure that all mechanicals and everything are out of the way of [a potential] flood,” Knoll Peterson said. “We’re doing our best to make sure that nothing will be damaged if flooding does occur, and turning over a complete building to our new tenants.
“We’re doing a lot of maintenance that had been deferred,” Knoll Peterson added.
Old homes and buildings are standard across Connecticut and the lower Northeast states, she
pointed out. “One of the greatest things about New England is we have all of these beautiful older buildings, but it comes with a price tag to make sure that they’re usable.”
After the city bought out the lease from the previous tenants, Knoll Peterson said, the canoe club was gutted. That’s when these issues became apparent.
“It’s not something we would have known if the building was fuller and being used,” she added. “There were a lot of factors here.”
Once the walls were removed, it became evident that there were “major deficits” with the steel structure, Nocera said.
“You don’t see that until you take out the walls and ceilings, and then you have your building inspectors going in … . (and saying) “‘Whoa, stop. The steel is not sufficient, it’s not adequate,’ ” the councilman said.
Steel beams have been installed on the first floor and crews will be making their way to the second and third floor sometime this week, Nocera said.
“That’s a huge step,” he added, “because we’ve been dead in the water until that steel got (delivered). After that, the old beams were removed.
“While we were doing that, we had to reinforce the inside — do this from the inside,” Nocera said. “It’s like trying to build the place upside down. You can’t take the roof off and take out the old steel.”
Not only have materials become much more expensive in the last few years, Knoll Peterson said, there are delays in securing what’s needed.
“Between the scope of the project changing and the cost rise post-pandemic, it’s where we are,” she said. “If we were to lose this building — if it were to become unsafe and we can’t use it — we can’t put another building in that proximity to the river, so we have to do what we can to make it useful again.”
The old canoe club is “a jewel” in Middletown, Knoll Peterson said.
While expenditures rose significantly, the majority leader said, “but it had to be done. ... We are pushing as hard as we can,” said Nocera, who is confident for a mid-summer opening.