Dreamland not on track to open for 2007 season; Point Breeze to begin addition next month
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Dreamland Theater principal owner Haim Zahavi would probably like to be where Point Breeze Hotel Owner Bob Matthews is right now - working on his building - and not haggling over building permits and trying to quash rumors of a delayed opening - and no movies - until 2008.

Point Breeze owner Bob Matthews will fill the below yawning maw of the hotel's concrete foundation with a 14-space parking lot, a 4,091 square-foot addition and a terrace on top.

Matthews' project to renovate the 116-year-old hotel to its original splendor is underway and needs just one more permit to continue construction.

Zahavi's reconstruction of the South Water Street movie house, on the other hand, although close to getting a building permit from Nantucket Building Inspector Bernie Bartlett, is bogged down in a permitting quagmire, according to project architect Andy Bedar.

Matthews' project is currently operating on building permits for the installation of steel in the main building and for foundation work.

"They're doing all the steel right now; they're literally putting all new steel in the whole building. They should have the final building permit in the next two weeks," he said Monday.

That final building permit will allow Matthews to proceed with the rest of the first phase of construction of the 77 Easton St. property. That includes reconstruction of rotted and deteriorated sections of the hotel restaurant, which Matthews is rebuilding to its original state.

The rest of phase one also includes replication of the original hotel as a 4,091-square-foot addition to the current main building.

"I think all of the steel is ordered for that," Matthews said. "We're probably not starting that until April 1. I'm hoping that in 60 days [after April 1] we'll have that all framed and closed in for the summer."

Matthews' crews will also be working on construction of a terrace between the two hotel buildings and the restaurant, with parking beneath it, and a new swimming pool behind the hotel. Phase two, which is not yet entirely permitted, includes three tennis courts along Easton Street where the cottages are now with a 49-space parking garage beneath it.

For the Dreamland, Bedar, of the firm BKA Associates, Inc. of Brockton, is waiting on a ruling from the Historic Districts Commission for handicap access into the building. Once the HDC signs off on his proposal - making half of the South Beach Street entrance into a ramp - Bedar expects Bartlett to issue Zahavi a building permit to finish renovating the theater.

Currently, Bedar, the commission and the state's Architectural Access Board are trying to find a way to make the main entrance to the building handicap-accessible while retaining its historical integrity. The state requires handicap accessibility through the front door, which is fine with the HDC as long as an eight-inch concrete step remains in front of the building. The HDC believes the step has historical significance, existing since the building was constructed.

Bedar is simultaneously seeking a variance from the Architectural Access Board on the grounds of the step's historical contribution to the building, and proposing to convert the right half of the entryway into a ramp.

This revised plan moves the theater's main doors nine feet further into the building to accommodate the ramp, which must be pitched so that it goes forward one foot for every inch it rises.

"The AAB is saying to take the step out and the HDC is saying, 'No,' and that really leaves my client between a rock and a rock" said Bedar. "The question now is whether the AAB will allow a half step and a half ramp."

Bedar was scheduled to present his latest plans to the HDC at its meeting

last night. I