Published: May 15, 2008 02:18 am            

C.J. Maggie’s restaurant has ‘been a challenge architecturally’

FAIRMONT — C.J. Rylands is working with an architect to try to develop a final plan for the C.J. Maggie’s restaurant in Fairmont.

“This building is free-standing and multi-level, so it’s been a challenge architecturally (to design),” he said.

The architect, Bryson Van Nostrand of Van Nostrand Architects in Buckhannon, has a vested interest in downtowns, Rylands said.

Rylands owns the C.J. Maggie’s franchise restaurant with his wife Mary Jean. He bought a property in downtown Fairmont in February 2007 where he will put a C.J. Maggie’s. The restaurant will be located on the corner of Jefferson and Washington Streets at the site of the former American Legion Building. People will see C.J. Maggie’s immediately after crossing the High Level Bridge into downtown Fairmont.

Right now, workers are finishing up the demolition phase of the endeavor. They have removed all the interior nonbearing walls of the three-level building and have “stripped everything down to the bare bones.”

Rylands said the front entrance will face Jefferson Street on the original side porch. From the entrance area, customers will be able to see the stained glass and the staircase that was once part of Gov. Aretas Brooks Fleming’s house. This portion of the restaurant will showcase the “original flavor” of the structure, Rylands said. On the lower level of the building, a patio faces the river.

The next step for the C.J. Maggie’s restaurant is probably putting on new roofs and doing structural modifications to the building. Rylands said the involved parties are taking their time on the project.

“We’re not fast-tracking this,” he said.

Rylands said he hasn’t been spending much time in Fairmont because he has C.J. Maggie’s restaurants in Buckhannon, Elkins, and Ashland, Ky., to maintain.

“We’ve kind of got an 80 percent vision of the final project,” he said. “But we look forward to working with the city and everyone else to accomplish everyone’s goals, which is an entrepreneurial-driven revitalization of your downtown. Entrepreneurial family business is what’s going to drive the downtown.”

There isn’t currently any sort of timeline for the project, Rylands said. The restaurant will be open in 24 months at the earliest.

The C.J. Maggie’s business model focuses on developing restaurants in downtown historic areas and creating a pedestrian-friendly environment. The restaurant offers a diverse menu and a comfortable dining room with an intimate environment.

“Every customer to every downtown business is a pedestrian,” Rylands said. “Scale things to humans and make it safe for pedestrians and bicyclists.”

Instead of focusing on vehicles, downtowns should be oriented toward people moving on foot, he said. Smart growth in these areas is based on traffic calming and people walking everywhere.

“Part of our business model is historic downtowns and get people working and living and entertaining there,” Rylands said. “That’s the window that Fairmont could use downtown. I feel optimistic.”

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.

        

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