- The Nistico family operated the Red Barn on Wilton Road in Westport for more than three decades. Photo by Jarret Liotta, Hearst Connecticut Media
by Hugh Bailey
The Westport Weston Family YMCA has bought the Red Barn Restaurant property, YMCA leaders announced recently.
The 3.2-acre parcel at 292 Wilton Road in Westport, which includes the restaurant building and a separate house, was owned by members of the Nistico family, who operated the Red Barn Restaurant from 1983 until this past July.
“This is a unique opportunity for our YMCA ”“ a long-term investment that allows us to preserve neighborhood values and, ultimately, utilize the property for the benefit of our members and the community we have served since 1923,” CEO Pat Riemersma said in a statement.
The volunteer leaders who govern the Family YMCA, a charitable nonprofit organization, are in the process of developing a plan for the future use of the property. The Y has established a limited liability company, known as 290 Wilton Road LLC, as part of the transaction.
Downtown Westport”™s Bedford Square project, which has been changing the face of the neighborhood since work began this summer, is on the site of the former YMCA. That facility”™s former Weeks Pavilion complex was demolished in April.
In addition to 60,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space, the Bedford Square project will include 26 one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as underground parking.
The Y moved into its new, 54,000-square-foot, $38.5 million Adirondack-style home last August.
Constructed on the Family Y”™s 32-acre Mahackeno Camp property along the Saugatuck River, the new building replaced the Y”™s longtime home downtown at 59 Post Road E.
Hearst Connecticut Media includes four daily newspapers: Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, The Advocate (Stamford) and The News-Times (Danbury). See ctpost.com for more from this reporter.
