BETHEL – After five months of working with the Newry Planning Board and abutters, Philip A. Everett is poised to realize a dream.
Construction of Everett’s 327-seat, two-story restaurant and lounge at the site of Les Otten’s former house, will soon get under way.
The site plan application for the establishment – to be named Sunday’s Well – was approved by town planners last week.
“I’m excited about it,” Everett said Tuesday. “I think it will be a nice addition for the community, and I think that this is what the area needs – more bars, stores and restaurants – to develop its infrastructure. Looking ahead, this will benefit everyone.”
He plans to hire between 30 and 40 people to operate the seasonal establishment, which will be open from Thanksgiving through April depending on snow conditions.
“I don’t see a need to open year-round unless the new golf course takes off,” he said.
Currently, the Harris Golf Co. is constructing an $8-million, 18-hole championship golf course on 350 acres near the 286-unit Jordan Grand Resort Hotel and Conference Center at Sunday River Ski Resort.
Everett, a former chef, is the managing partner of Maine P.S.L., LLC, an organization created to develop Sunday’s Well in Newry at the resort.
While no longer affiliated with the ski area, Everett worked four years for the resort as food and beverage director at Jordan Grand Resort Hotel, he said.
The restaurant is named after a suburb in Cork, Ireland, “where my family hails from,” Everett said.
Everett said the building at One Timberline Drive “won’t be touched much,” but it will be given a 55-by-55-foot addition, which will point toward the ski slopes.
Otten, the founder and former chief executive officer and chairman of American Skiing Co., which owns Sunday River Ski Resort, stepped down in March 2001.
When finished, the 6,000-square-foot establishment “will look like a lodge you’d see in Colorado. It will be made of wood and glass with nice views. You will be able to see an arc of view from South Ridge to White Heat,” a Sunday River ski run, Everett said.
He expects business to be great.
“It’s at a great site on South Ridge. There are 1,000 cars parking there, and on busy (ski season) days, there are 5,000 people traveling through here. People can park and ski, then walk over here or take the trolley. It’s a convenient location coupled with the golf course and all the subdivisions going in.”
“Not now, but in the future, I think you’ll see a nice upswing in this area. We’re filling a niche that so far hasn’t been provided. Being up here in the area the past four years, this area could use a different type of restaurant,” he said.
A lounge and “good-sized” bar will be on the first floor, while the restaurant will be on the second floor. There will be several television sets, live bands, a beer, liquor and wine list, a 24-foot-high ceiling, arts and crafts type of furniture, and lots of glass.
The menu will consist of a traditional steakhouse concept, offering 12 to 14 different types of protein, with starches and vegetables, and a mix-and-match combination of 10 different types of pasta and sauces.
Although it will be an upscale establishment, Everett said, “we’ll embrace the locals and the tourists.”
Construction begins in three to four weeks and will continue for the next four to five months. He will be hiring local carpenters to assist in the project.
“Dreams do come true, but it’s not open yet, so we’ll see what happens,” Everett added.
tkarkos@sunjournal.com
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