New
life planned for historic building
Owners want to create an intimate restaurant
in Malta landmark at East Line Road
By KENNETH C. CROWE II, Staff writer
Wednesday, April 5, 2006 MALTA --
Finding a new use for an old building, especially one that is
approaching its bicentennial, can be a daunting endeavor.
Three friends have not just an idea, but a vision for a two-story
building at the northeast corner of East Line Road and Route 67 on
the MaltaBallston town line.
"We want to be a place where you go when you're on your way
somewhere or on your way back home," said Jeff Townsend. Townsend,
Del Kenyon and Dawn O'Donnell are planning to open the East Line
Road House, a 40-seat restaurant in the two-story building that was
built in 1809.
"We're more of a touchstone place on your way some place. We're not
going to be a big seat restaurant. We're going to be intimate.
We'll know our customers intimately," Townsend said.
The building was first home to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Then
it evolved into a schoolhouse. It served the children from the East
Line hamlet as the local school from 1870 to 1937. In the 1960s, it
was home to Hulls Auction House.
Townsend bought the property at a Saratoga County tax auction in
1984. He's used it for storage -- the counters from Mabbet's and
the Farmer's Hardware stores in Saratoga Springs and post office
boxes from the Greenwich Post Office are among the items inside.
It's also stored the trio's vision of their restaurant.
They're ready to break out their concept. They've been wooing town
officials since November, bringing anyone who would come on a tour
of the building and pointing out what had been and what could be.
They're planning to file an application with the town Zoning Board
of Appeals to get the restaurant permitted in an area that has been
zoned residential. Townsend bought the halfacre lot when it was
zoned commercial.
"This is a structure that is very important to the town of Malta,"
said Town Historian Teri Ulrich. "This is, in many ways, a model of
what we would like to see people do with our historic structures,"
Ulrich said.
Councilwoman Susan Nolan said the three partners appear to be on
the right path.
"It's a good project," Nolan said. "It would be nice to see it
restored.
Townsend, Kenyon and O'Donnell estimate it will cost $250,000 in
material plus their own sweat equity to restore the building so
that it will be ready to open next year as a restaurant. Those
counters will have a new life. Instead of displaying hardware,
they'll be the serving space for food and beverages.
"We don't want to be a run-of-the-mill place," Kenyon said.
O'Donnell will be the chef. All three have worked in various
restaurants throughout the Capital Region.
"I want to use fresh ingredients and stay as local as possible,"
explained O'Donnell, whose menu will feature traditional and
contemporary American cuisine.
The three restaurateurs relish the building's construction. After
nearly two centuries, it's still solid and plumb. The wooden peg
construction has held together from times when East Line was a
bustling hamlet to now when tractortrailer trucks and commuters
roll by just yards from the front door.
As the world outside the church-school-auction house has changed
over the years, the interior also will be modified. In planning
their restaurant, the partners want to evoke what once called it
home.
They have a Web site up at http://www.elrh.net/
that tells the story
of the building and the hamlet in which it is found. It's Kenyon's
first Web site. They also are seeking information and photos about
how the structure appeared as a school. They can be contacted by
e-mail through the Web site.
Kenneth C. Crowe II can
be reached at 581-8438 or by e-mail at kcrowe@timesunion.com.
Reprinted with permission http://timesunion.com