Federal Judge Rules Against Restaurant at Site of Long Wharf Pavilion

Nearly 10 years ago, a proposal to open a restaurant at the tip of Long Wharf in Boston first came to light, and over the past few years, neighborhood resistance to the plans have resulted in a back-and-forth battle that has included a lawsuit, rulings both for and against it, appeals, and countless meetings on the topic. Now we have learned that plans for the dining spot have taken a serious blow.

According to an article from the NorthEndWaterfront.com site, a federal judge ruled yesterday against the Boston Redevelopment Authority's plans to have a restaurant and bar open at the site of the Long Wharf Pavilion, siding with the National Park Service which believes the space should be parkland that is protected by the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act. The article says that this latest ruling can be appealed by the BRA, and because the judge was not specific about whether the entire "cross-hatched area on the 1980 map" of Long Wharf is protected could potentially lead to further challenges.

[November 2 update: A new article from NorthEndWaterfront.com states that the BRA has indeed appealed the federal judge's decision to keep a restaurant and bar from opening at the tip of Long Wharf; this means that what the judge calls the "Long War of Long Wharf" will continue for the foreseeable future. (Thanks to Universal Hub for bringing this to our attention.)]

Back in 2010, we reported that a couple of years into the battle on the space, a restaurant called Doc's Long Wharf seemed to be interested in opening at the site, though plans for the dining spot appeared to be in danger the following year due to a reversal of an earlier ruling supporting it, and the restaurant group behind it (Eat Drink Laugh) apparently pulled out of the plans the following year--though this did not completely scuttle the plans for other prospective owners/restaurant groups to open a dining spot there.

Long Wharf is located between the New England Aquarium and Christopher Columbus Park on the Boston waterfront.

[Earlier Articles]
Doc's Long Wharf Appears to Be Coming to the Boston Waterfront
Doc's Long Wharf Might Not Be Opening in Boston After All
The Continuing Saga of a Restaurant Planned for the Pavilion at Boston's Long Wharf

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