Harbor House reconstruction begins after September 15
DEVELOPMENTS
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Take a picnic lunch to the large lawn at the intersection of Easton, South Beach and North Beach streets as soon as you can because come Sept. 15, Stephen Karp will begin construction of new Harbor House hotel space on this lot.

Karp begins his renovation and reconstruction of his 4.1-acre Harbor House property when the town's seasonal prohibition on exterior construction ends on that date.

Kathy Burns, a spokesperson for Nantucket Resorts, Inc. said that work on this so-called Mad Hatter lot, and the buildings on the corner of North Water and Easton streets will start at this time.

"After Sept. 15, we will begin putting in foundations on those two corners and there will be some demolitions of some of the townhouse buildings, none of them will remain," said Burns. "The only buildings that will remain are the main building, the Manchester House, the Springfield House and the dorm, but it will not remain as the dorm, it will be part of the new hotel."

The townhouses that do remain through this winter will house construction crews working on the project.

Karp, who secured his major commercial development special permit from the Planning Board on Jan. 9, 2006 and Historic District Commission approval that spring, is essentially rearranging his five parcels by demolishing around 30,699 square feet of hotel space and building 67,371 square feet of new space. Going to an off-island landfill will be the remains of the eight townhouses along the north side of the main entrance road along with the demolition debris of all the buildings ringing the existing pool on the south side of that road. Burns said that this work would happen during the winter of 2008/2009 along with demolition of the rest of the townhouses.

Karp is also rerouting the main entrance road off South Beach Street and building seven new structures that will make up the new hotel. He is reducing the number of guest rooms from 112 to 98 with a total capacity of 305, building a new 25-meter lap pool and situating four of his new buildings around it.

An addition to the existing main building includes new function rooms and an 8,000-square-foot spa with treatment rooms, a relaxation solarium, fitness room, locker rooms, sauna and whirlpool along with a small salon. A small trash building is also part of the plan.

Meeting space, now at 3,785 square feet in the Madaket, Sankaty and Sconset rooms would be reduced by 1,500 square feet to 2,340 with the elimination of the Sankaty and Sconset rooms on South Beach Street.

The main entrance road will be lined with parking as it passes the pool and takes a jog north halfway in, running into more parking facing a new building on the corner of Easton and South Beach streets where the Mad Hatter Restaurant once stood.

Karp is providing 76 parking spaces, widening a section of South Beach Street by five feet and providing complimentary shuttle service to the Steamship Authority in an effort to keep his guests from bringing their vehicles to the island.

Shooting for a September 2009 completion date, Burns said Karp will keep the project going for 24 months straight, doing the exterior work Sept. 15 through June 15 and interior projects during the summers when no outside work is allowed by the town. In addition to meeting his finish date, Karp's main goal is not to disturb his guests throughout the project.

"Those guests who stay in the main building should not experience any impacts," said Burns. "The new buildings will be screened off. This is one continuous project and the only thing that slows us down is the exterior work

ban from June 15 through Sept. 15." I