Historic Station Pub in Bernardsville gets green light for upgrades

BERNARDSVILLE Plans to enclose two front porches and pursue interior renovations at The Station Pub & Grub at 45 Mine Brook Road received approval from the Planning Board on Thursday, March 22.

In response to complaints from two neighbors about noise, the board asked for an extra front enclosure that would put a second set of doors between the dining facilities and the outside.

The changes inside would expand the bar from a corner into more of a square, make the seating areas more open, add ceiling-to-floor windows, new lighting, and more sound-absorbent floor and ceiling materials, according to Harold J. Imperatore of Hampshire Destination Properties, which owns the site.

Hopefully it will be more inviting, he said.

Construction is planned for the summer and will probably close the establishment for a short period of time but nothing more than a few weeks, he added.

The Stations faade now features a vestibule in the middle and open porches on either side behind columns.

Project architect Philip Kennedy-Grant said the vestibule would be removed, with that area and the two front porches to be enclosed by a fundamentally glass wall that would stand behind the columns.

The move would enclose 14 dining seats but total seating would remain at 119. The Station, which presently has 89 seats inside and 30 outside, would instead have 103 inside and 16 outside.

An initial request to add 20 extra seats was dropped.

Imperatore, who also runs The Bernards Inn, told the board he did not like The Stations interior look. He characterized the lighting as horrible and the acoustics as poor, and saw a need for a full bar, which would be enlarged from 12 seats now to 29.

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Historic Station Pub in Bernardsville gets green light for upgrades