New restaurant on Swampscott menu

SWAMPSCOTT – After historical, financial, and regulatory issues kept the site largely idle and empty for months, developers said they anticipate significant construction to begin within weeks at the site of the former Red Rock Bistro property.”I’m lucky I have any hair left,” joked Marty Bloom, one of the partners of the proposed Mission on the Bay restaurant. “But anybody who has done any kind of development project of these types know things can happen.”Bloom bought the old Red Rock Bistro with partners Robert Hoffman and Wellington Augusto in 2013 and closed the restaurant in March 2014 with plans to renovate and redo the space.But a total demolition of the building in April came as a surprise to the Historical Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals, which had only approved partial demolition and extensive renovation of the property.Bloom said that the developers had intended to retain the core of the original building, but engineers found the section they intended to keep was structurally deficient – essentially an old shack fastened precariously to a rocky bluff high above the Atlantic Ocean.”The best intent of plans was to maintain what was there,” Bloom said Wednesday. “But there was no way to know what was underneath you until you take it apart. And, to say it simply, we were surprised with what we found.”Building Inspector Richard Baldacci ordered a halt to construction on May 9. Meanwhile, the Historical Commission was deciding whether the building was historically significant and whether to issue fines for the demolition.But Bloom said other issues also arose during the meantime that kept developers from building. Updated Federal Emergency Management Agency Floodplain Maps that were scheduled to go into effect in July included the property in the floodplain, further complicating financing agreements and prompting other concerns. Experts were called in to note the difference between the property’s horizontal and vertical proximity to the water and further delayed the project.Finally, a staffing change at the bank in charge of financing the project caused an additional snafu, Bloom said.The foundation has now been poured and is ready to go. The elevator shaft is arising from the site, and Bloom said that a structural steel frame should begin to be erected within the next 10 days or so.The end result will be a restaurant called Mission On The Bay, a nod to the partners’ other restaurant, Mission Oak Grill, in Newburyport. Plans call for a two levels of dining, including on a rooftop deck. Two large bars – or “large eating counters,” as Bloom described them – will dominate the dining areas, along with smaller tables. There will be an open kitchen and – in a nod to patrons’ electronic obsessions – easily accessible charging ports for phones and other electronic devices located throughout the restaurant. The restaurant will also keep a snack bar/take-out counter for those wanting an ice cream as they stroll the beach.The best feature is the one that Bloom said kept him going through all the hurdles.”Every seat having magnificent views of the water … I know the end result is going to be spectacular,” Bloom said.He said the developers hope to open in March or April.