Town House Tavern seeks new rear entrance

The Town House Tavern is getting a new door — and when your place of business is in a historic building, that’s not an easy task.

“We were working on it for a year while we were closed for Covid,” said tavern owner Sean Padgett. “We thought we’d be done with it by now but we didn’t realize how long it would take to get a plan.”

The proposed outward swinging door would be ADA compliant and have access to a walkway. It required sign offs from both the state and the Grafton Historic District Commission due to One Grafton Common’s historic status.

Padgett, who launched the business in the basement space formerly used by the Grafton Historical Society’s museum back in 2017 said the building’s existing rear door, which leads to the courtyard now used for the tavern’s outdoor seating, provided too convoluted an entrance for customers with disabilities.

In the Covid interim, Padgett said the tavern also increased its food menu, a requirement for outdoor seating.

The Select Board approved of the project— but not before a series of dog barks came through on Padgett’s end of the Zoom call. Apparently, the dog approved of the charges as well.

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