McLear and Ray Team Up for Changes in Meredith

[mcdude]

from the Laconia Sun

Meredith Bay-side inn and restaurant reveal plans for the property between them

By Michael Kitch
Feb 29, 2012 12:00 am


MEREDITH — Rusty McLear of Hampshire Hospitality Holdings, Inc. presented conceptual plans for the redevelopment of the lot lying between the Town Docks Restaurant and the inn at Church Landing to the Planning Board last night in anticipation of making a formal site plan approval application next month.
The building on the half-acre lot with 204 feet of frontage on Meredith Bay was constructed for the Yield House, a furniture outlet, in 1956 and featured a pond and water wheel in the forecourt. The Christmas Loft store operated on the site for nearly 20 years before closing a year ago.
Last year McLear, who operates the Inns at Mill Falls, and Alex Ray of the Common Man Family of Restaurants, of which the Town Docks is one, acquired the property for $1,050,000.
McLear explained that the two businesses would share the property. The first floor, consisting of some 5,000-square-feet at the level of the lake, would be divided in half. The north half would provide additional seating for the restaurant overlooking a patch of shoreline offering space for outdoor dining.
The other half of the first floor, McLear described as an activities center for the guests of Church Landing. In the summer, the building would house kayak and canoe rentals, along with a water-ski operation. In the winter the center would serve as a base for ice skating and cross-country skiing on the lake. "If the lake freezes," McLear remarked.
He readily agreed that jet-skis would be prohibited on the site.
McLear said that half of the second floor, which is at the level of Route 3, and virtually all of the third floor has been leased to an antique dealer, leaving half the second floor available to another retail tenant. He suggested that the 24 parking space on the site would be sufficient and assured the board that the remaining space would not be let to a retailer likely to draw heavy traffic. Although there are no immediate plans to alter the exterior of the building, McLear said that eventually he intends to renovate it to match the architecture of Church Landing.
Meanwhile, McLear plans to reconfigure the southeast corner of the lot to facilitate the launching of watercraft. The half of the paved area between the rear of the building and the boat dock will be removed and the space lined by stone wall and filled with sand. A section of the stone wall along the shoreline will be removed and a channel dredged beneath the board walkway leading to the sandy area. A section of the walkway will be replaced with a bridge, providing six-and-a-half feet of clearance for those launching canoes and kayaks. The remaining paved area will be divided into 12 or 14 parking space for Church Landing.
McLear told the board that he has discussed the plan with officials of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services who he said found it "doable from their perspective." Rene Pelletier of DES said "you're building a boathouse without building a boathouse."
John Edgar, director of Community Development, advised McLear that when he returns in March he provide plans that include both the Town Docks Restaurant and Church Landing to enable the board to place the project in context.