By Stephanie Myles
The owner of Friday’s Roast Beef House is asking the City to sell him the restaurant property, or give him longer than a five-year lease, in an effort to secure the future of the 31-year-old restaurant and heritage building before the City sells the property.
“I keep pitching it to them to sell [only the restaurant] to me, I’ll pay the market price … then do what you want with the rest of it. And I’m still hoping that will come to pass,” says Ken Dolan, who has rented the building from the City since 1971.
Dolan’s current lease expires at the end of December.
Friday’s first faced uncertainty last May, when the City announced the sale of the property at 150 Elgin St., including the adjacent parking lot at 31 Gloucester St., as part of a bid to get rid of surplus properties and make some money.
But the City has refused his request to buy the land Friday’s sits on, says Dolan.
“It’s not just a matter of carving off bits of land and selling it to the highest bidder, it’s a matter of trying to look at it as an important piece of land in terms of the development downtown,” says Elisabeth Arnold, city councillor for Somerset Ward.
The City will sell the property after reviewing proposals from interested developers and choosing the one it thinks is best, says Les Nalezinski, manager of real estate disposals with the City.
But it can’t take proposals without official City Council approval, which may not happen until January because of the upcoming municipal election, says Nalezinski.
In August, the City offered Dolan a five-year lease, with two five-year options to renew. But Dolan says five years isn’t long enough to protect Friday’s.
“Who knows if I could afford those options at that time?” says Dolan. “When the term of the lease is up, the new owner could move to demolish. There’s a danger, that’s no question.”
Friday’s will be protected by development criteria attached to the sale of the property, meaning any proposal will have to include keeping the restaurant, says Nalezinski.
“The criteria included retention of … the Friday’s building, and if that wasn’t in the [proposal] then that would be a problem,” says Arnold, noting that, as a heritage building, Friday’s has the highest possible level of protection.
The city was set to demolish the house, built in 1875, when Dolan saved it in 1971 by offering to rent it and open the restaurant.
Since then, Friday’s has weathered ups and downs for three decades, while remaining old-fashioned and gathering the dedication of regular patrons, says Dolan.
“Many people have met at Friday’s. They’ve gotten engaged here, we’ve had weddings here … Now their children are coming and they’re getting engaged here. I swear half our business has been repeat,” he says.
Pamela Aitken says good food and reasonable prices draws her and her husband to Friday’s for dinner and a visit to the upstairs piano bar each month.
“We like it because of the entertainment. We love the ambiance of it all,” says Aitken.
Marc Thibeault, who recently dined with his family at Friday’s, says the restaurant should remain as it is.
“It’s a landmark. People know it from all around,” he says.
Dolan says he hopes to run Friday’s for at least another 15 years.
“I can’t imagine anyone considering taking Friday’s away,” he says. “Any restaurant that’s been in business for 30 years, it’s got to be unique.”