A LANDMARK restaurant in Ryde, destroyed by fire nearly two years ago, is beginning to rise from the ashes.
Work has begun on the new look £500,000 Beijing Palace Chinese Restaurant, at Appley, with the building set to open for business in March next year.
The landmark thatched building, on Appley Rise, next to Ryde’s Canoe Lake, was destroyed in a blaze in October, 2006.
Now an Island firm is rebuilding the restaurant, using many contractors and suppliers from the Isle of Wight.
Company director of builders LV Construction Ltd Liam Verstraeten said: “Winning this contract means jobs are created for the Island and money paid into the Island’s economy as a result will largely stay on the Isle of Wight.”
Owner of the Beijing Palace Michael Hang, who also runs the Hong Kong Express Chinese restaurants in Newport and on the Esplanade in Ryde, added: “We are looking forward to the handing over of our new restaurant next spring after being out of action for so long.
“We are particularly pleased with the roof design, which incorporates an element of traditional Chinese design.”
The original building was constructed as a cafe in the 1920s but in the 1960s, a thatcher took it over, gave it a traditional roof and the name, Thatcher’s End.
It was taken over and transformed into the Beijing Palace by the Hang family in September 2003.
Reporter:
davidn@iwcpmail.co.uk