New Canaan’s Roger Sherman Inn.
Anyone who has been to a Planning & Zoning meeting would likely agree that it can be quite clinical, as presentations are usually accompanied by graphs, numbers, projections and technicalities.
So when white-haired, 85-year-old Barry Frank slowly made his way to the podium to offer his thoughts on developer Andy Glazer’s plan to build seven houses to replace the venerable Roger Sherman Inn, emotion replaced facts and figures in the Town Hall meeting room.
In a solemn but strong voice, Frank seemed to be speaking for a generation that reveres New Canaan just as it is, and wishes it would remain. The Roger Sherman’s likely end as a commercial establishment was clearly hurtful for him.
“My name is Barry Frank,” he began. “My wife and I are 17-year residents in New Canaan, a place that we love and are happy to live in. We have been very frequent visitors to the Roger Sherman Inn, especially the restaurant, and it is the restaurant that I would like to address most of my concerns. Mr. Glazer certainly has the right to purchase the Inn from the family that’s owned it for a few years. My question is, does he have the right to take it away from so many of us in this town who have enjoyed the Roger Sherman?”
Frank paused, then turned to Glazer, who was seated close by.
“You said that there were some 50 eating places in New Canaan,” he continued, referring to what Glazer had told the P&Z was a reason the Roger Sherman was no longer profitable. “That seems to me to be a bit of an exaggeration. Nonetheless, there’s only one Roger Sherman Inn. It is unique to this town. It is one of the finest restaurants in this entire area between here and Manhattan. My wife and I have eaten in most of those restaurants, and there are very few that meet the standard of the Roger Sherman. I think to just take that away… a lot of us in New Canaan feel it’s a mistake. And to my knowledge no plan has been made to replace it in any way, shape or form.”
Frank then showed he had more on his mind than to simply lament the likely end of the Roger Sherman.
“You also talk about the [proposed Roger Sherman site housing] design, and mention the Maples Inn,” he said of the property next to the Roger Sherman Inn that Glazer similarly converted from a commercial enterprise into residences. “If I may say, in my own opinion, the Maples Inn is one of the ugliest buildings I’ve ever seen. The only saving grace is that it sits far enough from the road that you can barely see it. But It is certainly unattractive, plain and makes no statement. The Roger Sherman Inn is a classic, historical building, and I believe that that building should be maintained above all.
“It’s important that the building be maintained in its current position, situation and look, and I don’t sense, based from what I’ve seen from your architecture to date that that’s a possibility.”
Turning back to address the P&Z commission members, Frank told them what he was hoping for in no uncertain terms.
“My basic concern is the replacement of the restaurant,” he said. “I think if you [Glazer] bought the property and said, ‘Well we’re going to continue with the restaurant in some way, shape or form,’ we all would have been satisfied.
“I tried to call you and left a message that I would like to talk to you about possibly renting that space, or buying it from you and maintaining the restaurant. You say the restaurant hasn’t been very successful. Well, that restaurant has done one of the poorest jobs of marketing that I’ve ever seen, and marketing is part of my business. They’ve done nothing to market it, and it gets by on the quality of the food alone.
“I think it could be successful and prosperous. Unless some plan is made to continue the restaurant, I urge the commission to restrict the ability of Mr. Glazer to go ahead with this purchase.”
Before the meeting ended, Glazer returned to the podium to address a few concerns raised by others, then turned to Frank and spoke to him.
“I do apologize; I got your message but I couldn’t get your phone number,” he said. “I understand and I know it’s hard because I’ve spent a lot of time renovating the Silvermine Tavern, which has a lot of old memories and all of that. But as I explained before, it’s a difficult proposition for me to do. I looked to renovate the [Roger Sherman] Inn and it was not financially feasible. I’ve been looking at this property since I did the Maples. It hasn’t been able to attract anyone. The price is obviously high. So in this case we tried to do something consistent with the Maples.”
After the meeting, Glazer amplified his position to the Advertiser.
“I knew about him [Frank] and those are the situations you run into when you’re dealing with an old structure like this, and an old business,” he said. “My mom gave me a hard time about it. But unlike the one I’m doing now [renovating the Silvermine Inn & Tavern] this one is not feasible to do.”
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