Will a Restaurant Start Under the Norwalk Museum?

If the owners of the Norwalk Museum building get their way, a new restaurant may go in under the museum, with outdoor dining at the corner of North Main and Marshall streets.

But that raises alarm bells—specifically fire alarm bells—in the mind of the Norwalk Historical Commission chairman, Peter Bondi, who told representatives of the private group that restaurant chefs will insist on cooking with gas flames, and those flames would be under the city's precious historical archives.

"Essentially, you're going to have a flame burning under every collected item the City of Norwalk owns, which to me is not a good idea," Bondi told two representatives of the private co-owners of the Norwalk Museum Partnership who presented their proposal before the commission on Thursday.

Liz Suchy, an attorney representing the co-owners, replied: "It's not unusual for a museum to have cooking facilities. Major museums do. [...] We're as concerned as you are for the safety of the building."

For the past 18 months, the retail space in the basement has been empty. The co-owners of the building, who control the Norwalk Museum Parntership and who are also principals of Stamford-based Fred F. French Investing, LLC, want to make some changes to the building that would make it more inviting for a restaurant to rent the spot.

Plans

One of the most significant changes would be to transform the area outside the building, on the corner, into an outdoor dining area for the restaurant.

The current plans call for 86 restaurant seats indoors and another 32 outside in the warmer months (a total of 118). The restaurant would take up about 3,000 square feet of space and have an entrance on the side of the building opposite the side facing Marshall Street.

Under their plans, which have passed most of the city's land-use committees, a fence or rail of some kind would go up at the sidewalk, and diners would eat where the flagpole now stands, as well as along the Marshall Street side of the building, said Thomas S. Jones, vice president of Fred F. French Investing.

The museum is on the National Register of Historic Places, and therefore the Historical Commission's approval is needed for changes to the outside of the building. The proposal also goes before the Planning Commission once more in September, when that commission is expected to vote on whether to approve it.

Not at loggerheads

The principals of Fred F. French Investing formed one of six owners of the building back in 1995 and the group started buying other partners out several years ago until the group controlled the building. Friends of Norwalk Museum Inc. is also a non-voting, preferred equity partner in the Norwalk Museum Partnership, LLC.

The museum's lease is up in 2012, Jones said, adding that the partnership wants the museum to stay in the building. Museum-goers could easily spend money in the retail space, and restaurant patrons could easily visit the museum.

"We want to figure out what we need to do to keep you guys in here," he said. "That's important to us."

Bondi told Jones and Suchy: "I know you have to look at this building to make money. We all understand that. It's just, if you could do that in a way that we can make sure our city's collection is protected ..."

Suchy said the owners will consult with the city fire marshal, Glenn Iannacone, to see what measures could be taken to provide extra fire protection for the building if a kitchen is installed in the basement.