Westchester County is seeking area entrepreneurs to develop and revitalize the site of the former Cantina Restaurant along the Saw Mill River Parkway in Irvington.
In a statement Wednesday, Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino said the county is offering a license agreement to area companies to develop a restaurant, catering hall, recreational facility or museum on the property, which is accessed by an off-ramp traveling northbound on the Saw Mill River Parkway or via the South County Trailway, which is adjacent to the property.
The site includes a 4,500-square-foot building with a 2,300-square-foot slate patio, a 250-square-foot stone building and a parking lot. Completed responses to a request for proposals must be received by the Office of the Director of Concessions, Westchester County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, by 2 p.m. July 24.
“The old Cantina Restaurant was the scene of great food, fun and memories,” Astorino said. “With access by car or adjacent hiking and biking trails, the ingredients are there to make this an attractive, must-visit destination.”
The county parks department held a pre-proposal conference for interested companies Wednesday morning at Woodlands Lake in Irvington. The site of the former restaurant, which closed two decades ago, is roughly a mile north of Ashford Avenue in Ardsley.
Revenues from the successful proposal will go toward the county’s parks. Astorino said the request for proposals is the first of several planned requests to expand concessions and attractions at county parks.
