Up until recently, “downtown” Long Island (or “down front” as some know it) was dead in the winter. The Spar restaurant was boarded up, with weeds coming through the cracks of the sidewalk, the Long Island Store was closed, except for offering gas at the gas pump a few hours a week, and there were a few odd assorted buildings here and there, looking dilapidated and neglected. The only place open during the day was the post office.
Now, there’s a totally different feel in the air. The Spar has been transformed into four elegant three-bedroom luxury townhouses, now named “Sunset Landing.” While that still seems a bit out of the ordinary on this small island, one has to admit that these brightly painted blue townhouses with red doors and white trim really brighten up the corner next to Ponce’s Landing. Owners John and Anne Wary tore down the Spar restaurant, an island institution which they had run for 11 years, and built upwards on the original footprint. Where diners once enjoyed the spectacular views of the Hussey Sound, Great Diamond Island and mainland Falmouth in the distance, now townhouse owners can step out onto their porches on three levels to watch the sunset. Anne said that while some people were unhappy to see the island’s only restaurant gone, she knew that in time others would step forward to fill in the vacuum.
She was right. Next door to the new townhouses, Matt Carle and Lorinda Valls are subletting the Long Island Store in the winter, while owner Bill McCollum is wintering in Florida. (The Boathouse Beverage and Variety, located near the ferry and owned by Laurie and Scott Wood, provides groceries year round). Last summer Bill added a handsome deck and offered a wide menu of tasty items such as fish and chips, pulled pork wraps and spaghetti dinner plates. Matt and Lorinda continue to offer good home-cooking on Friday and Saturday evenings this winter. Tonight’s menu is salad, rolls, shepherds pie and turtle cake for dessert, all for only $6.95. Other entrees have included meatloaf, American chop suey, “beans & dogs,” and chowder. They also have a big screen projector TV, so folks can gather to watch ball games and whatever movie happens to be on television. Last summer Matt opened “Matty’s Meat Market,” in the store, which he is continuing this winter. Matt and Lorinda offer a congenial atmosphere and good food. Lorinda says that the “L. & M. Market” offers a place for the “community to come and enjoy a meal together, with an old fashioned stick-to-your-ribs dinner, and leave here with a full belly and an evening of great stories.”
Across from the townhouses is Captain Perry’s Café, in a new building with yellow siding and green trim, to even out the primary color palate of down front. The café, open for breakfast starting at 5 a.m. (early rising lobstermen especially appreciate this) and lunch, year round, is a welcome addition to the community. Tony Donovan, the proprietor, is realizing a longtime dream of 30 years in opening his café, named after island native Captain Percival “Percy” H. Perry, who was in the merchant marines. Tony actually remembers Captain Perry, who tragically (why tragically?) died in his house, on the corner, in 1968. The house was then abandoned until Tony bought it in 2001. Alas, he couldn’t save the house, but he built the café on the spot it once stood. Pictures of the old house are in the café, as well as paintings by local artists (currently Jennifer Wood). Tony’s vision is to cater dinners to off-island couples, bringing them out to the island for a five-course meal. (The fixed price includes a ferry ticket – for Long Islanders it would include a glass of wine instead). Tony is excited about the activity on this corner, which he refers to as the “Ponce’s Landing Business District.” He says it “creates a buzz.”
One who has really benefited from the downtown revitalization has been Pam Parker, the Long Island postmaster. The post office has always been a part of the old Spar building, which included a residence in addition to the restaurant, and the plans for the new townhouses included maintaining a home for the post office. Where once the post office was thinly insulated against the northeast winds, now it is surrounded on both sides and on top by the new townhouses. Pam says that this improvement means that “I am much warmer, and now I have a view!” Pam says that the revitalization is “fabulous – just what the island needed.” She points out a photograph she has of the old post office, and says that the downtown area was definitely in need of improvement. She hopes that the new dining establishments will offer a place for the teenagers to gather, which is desperately needed.
Together these entrepreneurial spirits have improved the face of downtown Long Island. While change anywhere is hard for some, it is a pleasure for most to see new places to gather, eat and live, especially in one corner of this island.
Nancy Noble is a freelance writer on Long Island.