Less than two months after Dock and Dine rebuilt from Tropical Storm Irene, the inside was torn apart by Sandy.
The Old Saybrook restaurant has struggled to gain momentum after being pummeled by the storms.
"Irene created a lot of damage because of water, things getting wet, walls, insulation. But Sandy... a portion of the building got totally wrecked. Another portion became structurally unstable," said Dock and Dine owner John Kodama.
Kodama didn’t know when he’d reopen again, but he managed to work it out with the town to at least open a portion of the restaurant for the summer. That portion, which was rebuilt in just seven weeks, is now open.
"Besides being excited about being open, I’m relieved, because financially, being closed was horrendous," Kodama said.
Kodama is hoping to salvage business as much as he can for the rest of the season by serving lunch and dinner every day.
Old Saybrook First Selectman Carl Fortuna says the reopening helps bring back Saybrook Point, an economic generator for the community.
"It brings people to our area restaurants and shops obviously. This is a huge landmark restaurant for the area," said Fortuna.
Even though the Dock and Dine will be open for the rest of this season, it will have to close about mid-October to knock everything down and rebuild again.
Kodama outlined the plan.
"Take the building down. Put in the pilings, the structural pilings and get a deck on it before the dead of winter," Kodama said. "Then wait to really restart, get everything lined up, but not start construction till better weather," said Kodama.
If all goes according to plan, he'll have a brand new restaurant open next summer.
