Tappan marina restaurant will not open this year

BY JD LONG (jim@harrisonnewsherald.com)

NEW PHILADELPHIA—Even with the end in sight, construction woes have hampered the much-anticipated opening of the newly renovated Tappan marina building, a project that has dragged on all through the 2021 summer. But last Friday, the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District announced that the restaurant (Waters Edge Kitchen + Bar), which will be operated by the owners of the Dennison Yard restaurant, will not open this year.

Chief of Recreation Ryan McCleaster delivered the disappointing news after meeting with the Dennison Yard owners earlier in August. Their staff shortage was a major factor, and it was decided by all that they would not open this summer. McCleaster later said they are aiming for an opening sometime in April 2022.

“We all in the room verbally agreed to postpone opening the restaurant this season and letting them have the opportunity to have a very nice grand opening in [2022],” McCleaster explained. However, he moved to events within the new facility and hoped to capitalize on what’s left of summer once construction is fully completed.

“We’re currently working on some marketing materials looking to get stuff up on the website,” McCleaster told the board, suggesting weddings or company parties. “So, we want to try to get it in the flow as far as using it and have it being accessible to people,” he stated.

Before McCleaster’s report, Chief of Engineering Boris Slogar had informed the board that Thursday, Sept. 2 was the contractor’s “substantial completion date” for the Tappan marina project. Slogar said it had been coming along nicely, and they were now in the “homestretch.”

“We’re within a stone’s throw of finishing that project,” Slogar said. “There would be, of course, for a period of time little things that will be done here and there, but the project looks fantastic. It’s really coming along nicely.”