By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

A proposed expansion will nearly double the size of a local tavern, but owners say they’ll keep the business quiet.

New Boston Tavern owners James and Matt Eggers plan to expand their restaurant and lounge with the addition of a 75-seat sports bar. The father and son co-owners first appeared before the planning board last month with site plans, and took abutters’ input at a public hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 8.

“We’ve heard concerns of neighbors, and we’re taking every issue seriously,” Matt Eggers said in a telephone interview.

“We’re also concerned with keeping the rural integrity of the town. We’re working with the planning board to make sure we uphold the town character,” Eggers said.

The tavern, located on 6.5 acres on Route 13 at the site of the former Molly Stark Tavern, currently seats 100 guests with a 22-seat bar and lounge area known as the Battery Pub.

The new sports bar would include televisions for sports viewing, a video game machine, a pool table, juke box and potentially an area for live bands and karaoke singing, Eggers said.

The new bar would be located in an adjacent building called Neville Mill Hall. That area has been used as a function room and for catering for several years, Eggers said, and was also rented out as a day care center. That room is already equipped with water, septic and fire infrastructure.

Neville Mill Hall would require minimal renovations beyond installing a bar structure to seat approximately 15 guests, Eggers said.

The new bar will be a smoke-friendly environment, while the restaurant and lounge will be entirely nonsmoking.

The New Boston Tavern is currently open from noon to 9 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday to Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. The new sports bar would likely stay open until 1:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and midnight Sunday through Thursday, Eggers said.

However, he said potential hours are subject to market influences.

“We’ll follow what the business dictates,” Eggers said.

Most abutters’ complaints revolve around noise coming from live music, said planning coordinator Nicola Strong. A site walk was to include an opportunity for planning board members to hear how far music traveled outside the building, Strong said.

Tavern management has already conducted tests in which music is played at levels 50 percent higher than their ordinary volume, Eggers said, and the noise could not be heard halfway across the parking lot.

“The building has been built with extra insulation and thicker walls to quell the noise,” Eggers said. “We’ve done sound tests and walk-throughs to hear how it sounds outside of the building, and we’re happy with the way they’ve come out.”

The next meeting of the planning board is scheduled for Sept. 12. The Eggers are expected to review their plans with board members at that time, Strong said.