The owners of the Home Port, who completed their purchase this month of the long-running Menemsha seafood restaurant, plan to make few changes in their first season.

Susan and Robert Nixon bought the restaurant from William and Madeline Holtham on Feb. 10, paying $2.3 million.

The Nixons, who also own the Menemsha and Beach Plum Inns, plan to retain elements from the old restaurant, from menu to staff and hope that customer loyalty for the business, which has been going since 1931, will prevail.

Chilmark’s most diehard scallopers will have a chance to increase the bushel limit in exchange for some community service.

Menemsha seafood retailer Karsten Larsen convinced selectmen at a meeting Tuesday to raise the small pond limits from two to three bushels a day, arguing that those ponds are oversubscribed with small scallops which would die in a freeze and potentially damage the pond bed.

Occupying almost every available seat in the Chilmark Community Center, voters rejected a $2 million purchase of the Home Port restaurant at a special town meeting last night, flouting months of effort on the part of selectmen to acquire the Menemsha restaurant and surrounding property for public use.

As a result of last night’s vote, the longstanding Menemsha seafood restaurant will now likely go to Robert and Sarah Nixon, private buyers who signed an alternate purchase agreement with the current owners.

More Explanation Needed

Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

The following letter was sent to the Chilmark selectmen:

Second Life for the Home Port

Chilmark voters face an important decision when they convene for a special town meeting later this month: whether to buy the Home Port restaurant for two million dollars in order to tear it down and build a parking lot and more public bathrooms.

The plan has been crafted principally by selectman J.B. Riggs Parker and has the support of the majority of the board.

With a town vote looming on whether to purchase the Home Port restaurant in Menemsha and turn it into municipal land, the long-running seafood restaurant closed its doors for the summer last Sunday, possibly never to reopen for business.

Meanwhile, two Chilmark innkeepers and restaurant owners have signed a new agreement with Home Port owners Will and Madeline Holtham to buy the property and keep the restaurant as a going concern if the town vote fails.

Chilmark selectmen signed an agreement Tuesday to purchase the Home Port restaurant, along with two neighboring waterfront lots, for a dramatically reduced price of $2 million.

The agreement, negotiated by selectman J.B. Riggs Parker on behalf of the board of selectmen with owners Will and Madeline Holtham, is almost half the price of a $3.9 million sale agreement rejected by Chilmark voters in 2005, though it does not include a lot with a dock currently used for restaurant parking.

Purchase Offer Accepted for Home Port Property

Home Port Restaurant owner William Holtham confirmed yesterday that
he has accepted a signed offer from a private buyer for the Menemsha
pondfront property that was the subject of a recent town meeting vote.

Citing the delicate nature of real estate transactions, Mr. Holtham
said he would not reveal the potential buyer, purchase price, or any
other details until the deal is closed sometime next month.

After a two-hour debate that weighed the future of Menemsha against the town's other priorities, Chilmark voters this week passed on an opportunity to buy the Home Port restaurant and adjoining pondfront properties for $3.9 million.

Home Port Purchase Set for Decision

IAN FEIN and JAMES KINSELLA

For decades, the Home Port restaurant in Menemsha has been the
epitome of a traditional Yankee seaside restaurant, with its lobster
dinners and stunning sunset views.

On Monday night, Chilmark voters will decide whether to set aside
another Yankee tradition - frugality - and buy the Home Port
from owners Will Holtham and Madeline Moore for $3.9 million.