The Chebeague Island Inn was set to re-open June 1 after being closed since the 2006 season.
Andre LeMaistre, of Freeport, has leased the inn from owner Martha Dumont with an option to buy.
Dumont, who did extensive renovations to the 83-year-old inn, put it up for sale for $2.75 million in early 2007. The real estate ad suggested it could be converted into private residences, which alarmed islanders.
LeMaistre, was a founder and president of Yale Cordage, and was a commercial real estate developer, talked to Dumont last year with an eye toward getting the inn running again. “She has done a wonderful job of rehabilitating and old building, which is no small feat,” LeMaistre said.
He hired Ed Jarrett, of Falmouth, to be the inn’s general manager.
So the new activity at the inn, which was the only sit-down eating establishment on the island, is a welcome sign. In addition, 20 island residents have already been hired to work in all areas of the inn, including the kitchen, front desk, housekeeping and the bar, said Jarrett. Eight to ten of those island hires will be full-time through October.
“We have been welcomed with open arms,” said Jarrett, about islanders’ response to the re-opening.
The re-opened inn will be different than what Dumont created, which “Travel & Leisure” magazine said offered guests “a trip back in time,” according to the inn’s Web site.
The inn’s new operators plan to have four different eating establishments. The restaurant, which will seat 32, is called the Maine Deck. In addition, there will be a bar inside the lobby, called the New England Tapas Bar, featuring small portions of everything from crab cakes to mini whoopee pies. The Fire and Ice Cream Parlor will have a chef who will flambé different sauces for ice cream, while guests watch, Jarrett said.
Finally, Jarrett plans to have live, outdoor entertainment and food at Lobsta Tales, which will be run outside, under an awning off the basement, facing the water. This area will feature lobsters, hamburgers and hotdogs, house wines and beer and different kinds of entertainment, from music to story-telling contests.
During the week, Jarrett said he would keep the noise down at Lobsta Tales after 10 p.m. and after midnight on Friday and Saturdays. “It won’t be big acts – this is local entertainment. We want to keep some control on this.”
Jarrett also plans to bring back weddings to the inn, which had not held there under Dumont’s ownership. This summer, they will let wedding parties rent the inn’s tent, “but we have plans to grow that business as well,” Jarrett said.
The Chebeague Board of Selectmen in April have already approved a new special amusement permit (for entertainment), a food and beverage license, a liquor license and a victuallers license. The liquor license and the food and beverage license also have to be approved by the state.
Islanders have been wondering what would happen to the inn, after it closed down, said Donna Damon, a member of the island board of selectmen. “I hope that it is successful,” she said. “I hope it is sensitive to the neighbors and the needs of the community.”
Jarrett was the general manager of The Woodlands Club, a private golf and country club in Falmouth, from 1999 through 2006. After that, he founded the Maine Snow & Ice Sculpting Foundation. Last summer, Jarrett built the world’s tallest sand castle, at 32 feet, to benefit Camp Sunshine, near Sebago Lake.
His wife, Nancy Jarrett, will run the front office. She was the general manager of hotels with over 200 rooms in Rhode Island for 10 years before the couple met and married, said Ed Jarrett.
LeMaistre also owns Mitchell Ledge Farm in Freeport, where he has 75 registered belted Galloways beef cattle.