Galley Restaurant sold to neighbor at foreclosure auction

LACONIA — Steve Olson, owner of Laconia Refrigeration, bought the former Galley Restaurant and Lounge at a bank-ordered foreclosure auction Friday for $165,000, which amounts to less than 40-percent of its assessed value..

Olson, who owns an adjacent property at 11 Walker Street, where Laconia Refrigeration and Lake City Autobody are located, said that he plans to lease the restaurant property.

“I've already talked with some people who are interested in operating the restaurant,'' said Olson, who was one of two active bidders for the property at the auction, which was witnessed by several other interested potential bidders as well as representatives of Laconia Savings Bank, which had ordered the foreclosure sale.

Olson said that a parking lot across the street from the restaurant which was part of the sale will be very helpful for his business .

The 3,773-square-foot, 118-seat and restaurant with a 30-seat lounge, is located at the corner of Union Avenue and Walker Street. It is a single story structure located on a .17 acre lot and was assessed at $378,300. The .31 acre lot used for parking which is located diagonally across Walker Street was assessed for $66,200.

There were back taxes on the property, which was owned by Duhamel Holdings LLC, of $27,447 on the restaurant property and $5,683 on the parking lot.

Auctioneer Paul McInnis said that the auction involved the real estate only, not the restaurant equipment , whose status he said was unknown and could possibly be considered as abandoned.

The restaurant has been operated since around 1970, when it was known as the Fish Dish and later as DeNauw's. In recent years it had been known as Rigione's Galley and most recently as The Galley.

Among it's loyal customers were presidents of Laconia Savings Bank, the bank which ordered the foreclosure sale. A plaque on one of the booths identified it as the Laconia Savings Bank booth and contained the names of recent presidents, including Linda Normandin and Mark Primeau.