Wide Open saloon Weirs beach

[LongBay]

Originally Posted by corollaman

...The Weirs could definitely use more parking too.

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
-joni mitchell

[Altonbayicefishingfool]

They should have just let the fire dept. use it as training and burn it to the pavement.. Would have been a lot easier.. Been driving by that dump twice a day for a year and a half.. What an eye sore! Place your bets now on what will be there next summer, I'm guessing prime vendor space @ bike week and parking the rest of the summer..

[Shore Driver]

I always enjoyed sitting on that patio at night. It's a unique spot to watch the world go by at the Weirs. Hoping they rebuild it - the Weirs needs something there besides parking.

[AC2717]

another great strolling area would be best, a u or l shapped building with Restaurants and boutiques would be awesome with some parking in the middle. That way you could keep the honkeytonk of the weirs and also give a little meredith type flavor. LIke a outdoor bistro, and at night a dueling piano bar and grill and then some shops

This would be awesome and a way to increase business in laconia and the weirs without a total redesign

how cool to get off the boat walk down the board walk and the beach across the street to something like that

[fatlazyless]

Methinks it will probably just become a vacant commercial lot with a sign FOR SALE similar to the one across the road there......former home to Karl's Fine Food restaurant which burnt down maybe eight years ago. The new Malfunction Junction will have a very nice new roundabout with a decorative garden in the center that's tended by volunteer gardeners, and these two vacant commercial lots on either side of it .......nice! ....that location is very seasonal for most businesses .... but not all?

[evergreenenvious]

Sad all that that family has been throw in the last few years, But they are Strong Good People and I am Positive they will keep moving forward and I hope they can rebuild something in the future

[Mr. V]

Originally Posted by evergreenenvious

Sad all that that family has been throw in the last few years, But they are Strong Good People and I am Positive they will keep moving forward and I hope they can rebuild something in the future

OK, I give up.

What family are you talking about?

[evergreenenvious]

Originally Posted by Mr. V

OK, I give up.

What family are you talking about?

Funny ................

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by Mr. V

OK, I give up.

What family are you talking about?

Ya really, I don't think anyone around here has ANY sympathy for the Baldi family. We have not nor will we revisit their drive-in or any other establishment owned by them.

[RailroadJoe]

Has the trash from the building been removed yet or is still lingeing ?

[AC2717]

as of Sunday morning, the pile of rubble was still there

[no-engine]

Originally Posted by AC2717

as of Sunday morning, the pile of rubble was still there

TODAY, at 5:45pm Tuesday 18 September 2012, the rubble has NOT BEEN TOUCHED, for a few days.
Somebody ought to make a "midnight" raid and make the sign fall down.
They must be doing that to spite everyone!
I get sick literally, as I drive by the sign.
I don't think the reported agreement has been followed: removing the rubble to an empty lot at the ground level, as I recall.


Another note: The roundabout traffic pattern is different, and an outline is taking shape. The temp traffic is partially on the burned Karl's sight.
Kinda interesting to observe the changes.

[fatlazyless]

...yeah....tearing down the wide open saloon is nothing compared to the very recent roundabout road construction as the new roundabout starts to shape up.....after the wide open gets torn down....the smart money says it will remain a vacant lot for years and years just like at Karl's Fine Food empty lot......that area is very seasonal even with a new beautiful roundabout ....

[Channel Pirate]

Would be a shame to have a nice new landscaped round about and have the owner of the vacant lot (Karl's) put the 8" chain link fence back up, looked like a prison yard. "CLEAN UP THE WEIRS" it's a tourist destination after all.

As far as that other eye sore in the neighborhood the building is still there, it's just not a structure anymore. Start the clock again 2 weeks ?

[evergreenenvious]

Originally Posted by Belmont Resident

Ya really, I don't think anyone around here has ANY sympathy for the Baldi family. We have not nor will we revisit their drive-in or any other establishment owned by them.

Well I do and I will continue to visit their Establishments.

[Belmont Resident]

Originally Posted by evergreenenvious

Well I do and I will continue to visit their Establishments.

Evergreen from reading your posts, one can assume that in some way you are connected with the family and not just a concerned resident or tourist.

As to your reply to Sunset View I would say that YOU are by definition the ignorant one and in a minority of one supporting the Baldi clan.

While I believe this subject has been way over beaten to death on this forum the fact still remains that the owners have done everything they could to make the Weirs look worse then the eyesore it already is without the burned out building.
For you to support them can only mean that you are in some way connected to the family.
If you are connected then maybe you could ask them to throw a few dollars at that rat infested thing they call a drive-in theater!

[Sunset View]

Originally Posted by evergreenenvious

Sad all that that family has been throw in the last few years, But they are Strong Good People and I am Positive they will keep moving forward and I hope they can rebuild something in the future

I agree; I just hope it's in Mexico City!

[Winnisquamguy]

LACONIA — The City Council last night agreed that if the debris remaining from the demolition of the Wide Open Saloon at Weirs Beach has not been emoted from the site by October 1, City Manager Scott Myers should seek an order from Belknap County Superior Court authorizing the city to clear the site and place a lien on the property to recover its costs.
"What is sitting there is not a whole better than what was standing there," City Manager Scott Myers old the City Council last night. "I share your frustration and citizens' frustration, " he continued, adding that "I prefer it can worked out amicably."
Myers told the councilors that the agreement between the city and Brandi Baldi, the principal of 38 Endicott Street North, LLC, the owner of the property, stipulated that the demolition would be complete and the debris removed by September 12. He said that attorneys representing both parties have met, but there has been no sign of activity on the property.
On September 17, 2010 the building was severely damaged by fire. In the two years that followed its charred remains cast a pall over The Weirs while Baldi pursued various strands of litigation, including a suit against her insurance carrier. Ultimately the city and Baldi reached a settlement and earlier this month the building was finally knocked down.
As part of the settlement the city agreed that once the demolition is complete, the property owner will have one year to make a good faith effort, which could amount to filing a site plan or pulling a building permit, to rebuild on the same footprint, without being bound by changes in the zoning ordinance enacted since the original building was constructed.

http://www.laconiadailysun.com/index...debris-remains

[Resident 2B]

When I was up for the weekend, I expected to see a clean lot. All I saw was a pile of burnt wood and other demolition debris. It was supposed to be cleared by September 12th.

What kind of people are these people? They seem to think they can ignore orders and agreements and do whatever they want, whenever they want. No excuse for the crap all of us with property in the area have had to put up with from these folks.

R2B

[CL 240 LS]

There was some activity at the domolition site this morning when I passed by. Looked like an excavator was picking at the the debris. Could not see if they were loading trucks as the pile was blocking the view.

There was also concrete workers at the new roundabout.

[evergreenenvious]

Originally Posted by Sunset View

I agree; I just hope it's in Mexico City!

why should they pick up and move their whole life and family, away from family and friends just to please a bunch of ignorant people. I hope they rebuild and are better than ever, give you something else to talk about

[Resident 2B]

Originally Posted by evergreenenvious

why should they pick up and move their whole life and family, away from family and friends just to please a bunch of ignorant people. I hope they rebuild and are better than ever, give you something else to talk about

I also hope they rebuild and I also hope what they rebuild looks nice and is a successful business. That said, I believe you are way out of touch with both reality and the majority of the people who live or own property and businesses near the Weirs. We have put up with that eyesore for two years. I feel all involved have given these folks way too much time to clean up this mess.

Good luck with your very small support group.

R2B

[Winnisquamguy]

Originally Posted by evergreenenvious

why should they pick up and move their whole life and family, away from family and friends just to please a bunch of ignorant people. I hope they rebuild and are better than ever, give you something else to talk about

The ignorant one here has to be you thinking its okay to take more than 2 years to take a building down after losing every battle...They finally decide to tear it down only to leave a pile of rumble for a few more weeks. I hope the city's planning board puts them through the ringer when it comes time for them to finally rebuild.

[no-engine]

Originally Posted by Winnisquamguy

The ignorant one here has to be you thinking its okay to take more than 2 years to take a building down after losing every battle...They finally decide to tear it down only to leave a pile of rumble for a few more weeks. I hope the city's planning board puts them through the ringer when it comes time for them to finally rebuild.

The RUBBLE includes the silly unprofessional sign.

[Heaven]

I am not involved in any way, but I could understand if there were a number of issues that most posters are not aware of that the Baldis needed to consider. There are a number of property right issues involved and it is the American way to allow the property owner to expend all available alternatives before having any of the value of their property diminished. It is not necessarily their fault that those processes took years. It is unfair to wish hardship on them (being screwed by the planning board for instance) for defending their property rights in (what appears to me) to be the available manner.

[fatlazyless]

The new Weirs Beach roundabout is taking shape very quickly, and it already looks like a roundabout. I believe there's a couple, three different groups, locally, who all volunteered to do the roundabout center decorative garden, so's it should be very decent looking.

At the Meredith roundabout, there's no garden hose faucet installed inside the center spot, and the new Meredith decorative garden gets watered from a big plastic tank in the center, and that was looking under-watered back in August but seems to be doing better now what with all the September rains or something.

Wonder if the new Weirs roundabout construction will include a garden hose faucet?

If I was to make a bet......I'd say that the empty lot left after the wide open saloon's pile of debris gets removed will probably remain an empty vacant lot for the next five to ten years. Look at the gas station and convenience store that's nearby and directly located on the new roundabout......it is a seasonal gasoline station and it gets closed for many months of the year.

[evergreenenvious]

a small garden in the center of the round about would be very nice.

[no-engine]

Commuted thru that area between 5:15 and 5:45 today.

Any source of water needs design to drain and winterize. I'm not a gardener, but I think I recall the base of the Weirs roundabout center is formerly asphalt, not much base for a decent garden. They have to replace with nice topsoil & fertilizer, and constant maintenance in growing season - Start very soon. Research plants to grow in these conditions. Do watering at night with mobile tanks when traffic is reduced.

Yes, unfortunate the convenience store (Citgo) closes for winter about mid October. I much prefer to go there than Cumberland Farms for my gasoline! Oh well, it's local operator decision.

Observed back hoe and front loader moving around the saloon rubble, but I saw no method of trucking it off. Maybe a vehicle was off dumping, as I did not wait to see. At 5:30-ish, where would they be dumping that rubble?
It was looking kind of like a training operation for new young operators of the two pieces of well-used equipment!!! I looked but could not see a company name; remained in my vehicle on Lobster Pound property, only briefly.

[evergreenenvious]

Originally Posted by no-engine

Commuted thru that area between 5:15 and 5:45 today.

Any source of water needs design to drain and winterize. I'm not a gardener, but I think I recall the base of the Weirs roundabout center is formerly asphalt, not much base for a decent garden. They have to replace with nice topsoil & fertilizer, and constant maintenance in growing season - Start very soon. Research plants to grow in these conditions. Do watering at night with mobile tanks when traffic is reduced.

Yes, unfortunate the convenience store (Citgo) closes for winter about mid October. I much prefer to go there than Cumberland Farms for my gasoline! Oh well, it's local operator decision.

Observed back hoe and front loader moving around the saloon rubble, but I saw no method of trucking it off. Maybe a vehicle was off dumping, as I did not wait to see. At 5:30-ish, where would they be dumping that rubble?
It was looking kind of like a training operation for new young operators of the two pieces of well-used equipment!!! I looked but could not see a company name; remained in my vehicle on Lobster Pound property, only briefly.

wouldnt have to be an actual garden, they could make it look nice with just some soil and mulch like you said and some larger potted plants. like those wooden barrel style ones but yes someone would still have to maintain and care for it

[fatlazyless]

According to a couple different newspaper articles in local papers over the last year, the Weirs roundabout will have a center decorative garden, maintained by local volunteer gardeners. While the Meredith roundabout center garden was built and maintained by a paid landscape company, who does an excellent job, the Weirs roundabout center garden has been said to be built and maintained by volunteers .... so wait and see what grows?

......hey WEIRS BEACH .........so, how does that garden grow.....and how-o-how does the garden water get there......by the bucket.....hand-carried from the nearby channel or what-o?

[crowsnest]

Originally Posted by Heaven

I am not involved in any way, but I could understand if there were a number of issues that most posters are not aware of that the Baldis needed to consider. There are a number of property right issues involved and it is the American way to allow the property owner to expend all available alternatives before having any of the value of their property diminished. It is not necessarily their fault that those processes took years. It is unfair to wish hardship on them (being screwed by the planning board for instance) for defending their property rights in (what appears to me) to be the available manner.

Shame on every one involved in the process IT TOOK WAY TO LONG !!!!!!!
I think they could have cleaned up the mess and still went through the dragged out court system for the results or blame

[Heaven]

Originally Posted by crowsnest

Shame on every one involved in the process IT TOOK WAY TO LONG !!!!!!!
I think they could have cleaned up the mess and still went through the dragged out court system for the results or blame

My guess is that the Baldis would have lost their grandfathered non-conforming footprint/Use if that had been done, unless the city had made an agreement to suspend that zoning ordinance in this case. Not even sure if that is legally possible.

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by Heaven

My guess is that the Baldis would have lost their grandfathered non-conforming footprint/Use if that had been done, unless the city had made an agreement to suspend that zoning ordinance in this case. Not even sure if that is legally possible.

Let's not forget that almost all of this could have been avoided if the place was not such a dump and fire hazard in the first place...

[Heaven]

Originally Posted by brk-lnt

Let's not forget that almost all of this could have been avoided if the place was not such a dump and fire hazard in the first place...

Maybe so, but then it would be fair to say the same of ALL places that suffered a fire wouldn't it? And come to think of it, lots and lots of places that haven't had a fire YET.

[Woodsy]

I think we need to take a deep breath here....

Regardless of opinion (and I have voiced mine), The eyesore has FINALLY been torn down and is being disposed of. So its time to move forward. I hope that whatever gets built on that site is a welcome addition to the Weirs and is very successful....

Woodsy

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by Heaven

Maybe so, but then it would be fair to say the same of ALL places that suffered a fire wouldn't it? And come to think of it, lots and lots of places that haven't had a fire YET.

From what I have read during this whole process (and I've read the legal summaries, other documents, etc.), it seems that place overall was a fire hazard waiting to happen. The Baldi's do not appear to make general upkeep or safety mechanisms top priorities at their properties.

So, you take an old wood building, give it no fire suppression system, rent out rooms to some questionable tenants, and the likelihood that the building ends up severely damaged in some way is pretty high.

My point was that the Baldi's seem to be deliberately dragging their feet on dealing with this, while trying to play some kind of a victim angle, but it really seems like a set of problems they brought on themselves.

It's fine if they want to be in that kind of business, but don't act surprised by the outrage when your poor judgement spills over to affect the community at large.

[Altonbayicefishingfool]

Looks like the clean-up is finally taking place. Saw a large truck there again today hauling off debris. Wonder what's in store for the future of that sight...time and some $$$ cha Ching will tell!