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Fat Tuesday's planning expansion
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Fat Tuesday’s Mardi Gras Grill is looking to expand, according to owner Teresa Reaves who made a presentation to the Coquille Urban Renewal Agency Monday evening.
The expansion is built around preserving the existing structure, a caboose sitting along a former railroad siding.
“It is definitely a trademark here,” Reaves told the CURA. “People come here and they look for us. They’ve been coming here for years.”
The expansion would include a 400 square foot kitchen and bakery, as well as the addition of two new restrooms and a cover for the entire structure with a dining area. The plan also calls for bringing natural gas to the business. A current estimate of the project stands at $302,756. Reaves is asking CURA for $150,000.
Reaves would like the establishment become a destination.
“We already have a large number of customers that come from as far away as Portland that come here just for our establishment,” she said of her Highway 42 business.
The CURA was generally positive regarding the project even though CURA Chairman Loran Wiese said participation in a building project was uncommon in his experience with urban renewal monies.
“I think it’s wonderful that the Reaves are improving it and it is the first thing you see besides the gas pumps and the hydraulic building,” said board member Steve Britton. “I love the design that they’ve got.”
According to CURA Executive Director Terence O’Connor, the project could fall under urban renewal.
“If you do an analysis of how much the taxes will raise as opposed to how much is being requested, you’re looking at an 82 year payback for the district,” O’Connor said. “The district is only going last until 2032.”
According to O’Connor, it is not a requirement that the money be paid back, but it is an issues the board needs to be aware of.
Board member Matthew Muenchrath is favorable of the project.
“If people are opposed to funding actual construction then maybe we look at helping with the gas line or we help with the signage or we help with some of the other things to defray their costs because this is a business that will not only continue to grow, but people will start showing up for the bakery,” Muenchrath said.
Board member Bruce Parker noted the business is also at the start of the future River Walk.
“We need to get behind this,” Muenchrath said. “It is going to increase the value of the property and it is going to do what it was meant to do.”
The CURA board asked for a more detailed plan and three estimates.
