Concord’s latest arts and restaurant development breaks ground, set for April 2025 completion
Published: 07-26-2024 12:21 PM
Modified: 07-27-2024 11:21 AM |
An ambitious project that would bring multiple restaurants to Main Street broke ground this week.
Dubbed “Arts Alley,” the development includes a two-story building between the Bank of New Hampshire Stage and the Concord Food Co-op that will house a Friendly Toast, an outdoor eating area and the transformation of the Norris Bakery and Homestead Stable Building set back from the road into “Duke’s,” a Nashville-inspired restaurant and bar with a focus on live music.
The project, spearheaded by developer Steve Duprey, went through multiple iterations that initially included housing before the final plans got the green light from the city this winter. A formal groundbreaking was held Wednesday, and construction is scheduled to finish by April of next year.
The Friendly Toast, a regional chain serving brunch favorites, is the flagship of the development. Above it will be a 5,000-square-foot events space designed for corporate and private events of up to 150 people.
The third-floor rooftop will become the South Main Street Surfer Bar, an outdoor space with firepits and a bocce ball court around an Airstream camper turned full-service bar. It will be open to the public and available to book privately.
The main artery and namesake of the project is the alleyway along the Bank of New Hampshire Stage building, which will pull pedestrian traffic into a courtyard with art installations between the Friendly Toast building and Duke’s. The courtyard will house a 1942 restored diner car open only for private bookings.
Renderings of the project show a modern aesthetic and neon color scheme — the stable building is set to be painted purple — and Duprey and other project leaders have said they want the project to bring added energy and artistic atmosphere to Main Street — an announcement of the groundbreaking described it as enhancing “the cultural tapestry of downtown Concord with its bright colors, colorful murals and lively atmosphere.”
The South Main Street site had been the home of the 1860 Norris House, a green mansion associated with a Civil War bakery, the nation’s first woman-run independent movie theater and Concord’s first YMCA. Its appearance and history led to multiple pushes to save it, including by Duprey, that were defeated by how expensive it would be to relocate the building. While historic fixtures and artifacts were preserved, the building was torn down in May.
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The carriage house that will be renovated into the live music tavern, Duke’s, is also a historic Norris building, dating back to 1854.