Media Coverage & Commentary
Plans for new Mezza Luna taking shape
By Paul Gately Tue Jan 22, 2008, Buzzards Bay - Bourne Courier
A new restaurant will rise from the ashes of the destroyed Mezza Luna at Main Street across from Bourne’s Pond, possibly by the end of this year. The landmark Italian-style family eatery was destroyed by fire in late October and owner E.J. Cubellis, working from an office trailer out back, says final insurance matters are being resolved. A demolition permit has been secured, Dig-Safe has marked the site and the work should take three to four days. Older bricks from a wall next to the chimney will be saved and re-used in a new place, perhaps as a façade for the hostess station.
The new Mezza Luna will not be the same as the old. That could never be. Cubellis knows you cannot recreate the past. But he says vestiges of it will be preserved. The new place will have the feel of the old. The exterior façade will include stonework and a somewhat Roman look. There will be two dining rooms with a bar in the middle. The menu will be the same. Think prime rib on Wednesday and Saturday nights. The prices, for awhile at least, will also remain as they were in October when disaster struck. “We won’t go up on our prices just because we’re building a new restaurant,” Cubellis said. “Only the economy will do that. I’ll hold the same prices as long as I can. “The Mezza Luna was a nice place,” he said. “Our customers have been telling me that. When they return, sit down and take that first bite of chicken ‘parm,’ or the veal ‘parm,’ I hope they quickly forget the newness.
They won’t forget the old place anyway; it was older than all of us.” Cubellis says his employees are making their way through a difficult winter that could have been better for them. He says 95 percent pledge to return to a new Mezza Luna. This should before the end of the year, he hopes. “We’ll do it right,” Cubellis said. “The new place is going to be a strong, strong building. There’s no fast-tracking. It’ll be structurally sound; even in hurricanes. I want something here and intact for when my kids move up and take over.”
Cubellis said restaurant owners throughout the town have offered unparalleled assistance since that Saturday night in October when everyone safely got out of the Mezza Luna but an era in Bourne’s dining history abruptly ended. “It’s been incredible,” he said. “I’ve never seen so much offered. And I guess I never realized how much people loved the restaurant and my family. Other owners and customers, they came here, they had functions here. They want to return. They’ve told me they thought the restaurant was their place; they had their tables. Even though 20 other people had the same table too. They’d call and ask for their place and they’d get it. “They say this was a place to come to,” Cubellis said. “A place to relax. I want to recreate that.”
The new place will seat 220. The old sat 165. As Cubellis says: “We’re going to build something similar to what was. That’s the plan.” He envisions a two-day grand opening affair with buffets available to those who have supported and dined with his family for seven decades, going back to before World War II.
Cubellis’s father Johnny is recuperating from surgery at Falmouth Hospital. Cards can be sent to him via 253 Main St., Buzzards Bay, MA 02532. On Oct. 20, the family restaurant burned. In December, Johnny Cubellis turned 90. The next day he underwent surgery. Now he keeps abreast as details about a new Mezza Luna unfolds. “My father’s strong,” E.J. Cubellis said. “I guess I always knew that, growing up. Now I know it more than ever. He’s a strong man. And he’s been through a lot. He watched the work of a lifetime burn. Amazing.”
The Bourne Courier, 923 G, Route 6A,
Yarmouth Port, Massachusetts 02675
Revitalizing A Community - Newsletter Article - January 2008
 How do you motivate a community that has been languishing for almost a half century? The question is compounded by a prevailing skepticism over the manifold promises to address Bourne's Main Street/Buzzards Bay that were never delivered, for one reason or another, mostly a lack of public resources and of community leadership, or both, further manifested by indifference and lack concern by landowners.
Members of the community have come together several times in an effort to get something done along the gateway to the Bourne Bridge and Cape Cod. They have given it their best shots, and they have accomplished some things to suggest that the area is worth saving and in a manner consistent with smart growth and the Cape Cod lifestyle and ambience. But they were still met by apathy, resistance, and lack of funds to take their efforts to the level equal to their aspirations.
After many meetings of still interested and devoted residents and businesses, a consensus was reached to restructure the various village and neighborhood groups into a Buzzards Bay and Main Street association with corporate powers and access to resources to allow it to adopt a business plan for the entire area from Veterans' Circle to the west to Belmont Circle to the east and from the north side of the Cape Cod Canal to the north side of the Bypass Road.
Thus the creation of the Buzzards Bay Village Association, Inc., now d/b/a the Buzzards Bay Vitalization Association (BBVA). The Association's elected officers and directors reflect a broad range of community interests, talents, and experiences. A retired professional association executive was engaged to run the organization, identify the real needs, raise the funds, and implement a plan to make Main Street once again a visible and viable downtown area.
For a short while the BBVA was viewed with the same apathy and show-me attitude. To attempt to once again stimulate community-wide interest and enthusiasm, the Association conducted an international architectural design contest to offer their best thinking for landscaping and reuse of the town's park on Main Street, considered to be the main facility for attracting visitors and merchants to the area. Over 155 well-regarded professionals submitted plans and programs including a half dozen from Middle East countries. The objective was met, and a modest degree of enthusiasm took over for apathy and skepticism.
Building on this new-found public support, the BBVA sought out resources from state government, area businesses, and private foundations, and it undertook studies of critical area conflicts to rehabilitation such as transportation, a hot topic with the local merchants who saw the return of the railroad to Buzzards Bay as a positive business asset. This was yet another step in stimulating more public interest in the total task of rehabilitating the downtown area.
In addition, the Association took on the task of converting the old access road to the drawbridge over the canal into a walkway leading from Main Street and going past Town Hall. The walkway is handsomely landscaped and well lit, and it leads visitors to picnic tables and an observation area and gazebo where visitors can sit or stand and watch the canal and the many ships pass by. This effort attracted much enthusiasm, and when a call went out for volunteers to help, over 50 dedicated people, armed with gardening equipment, dump trucks, coffee and donuts, came out on a Saturday morning, including some from the Garden Club. On other occasions there were volunteers from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy and inmates from the Barnstable County House of Correction, under guard, of course.
This is just a profile of the BBVA's mission and record. Much more is in the planning stage and needs to be done. The first and perhaps most difficult task was to dispel the negativism and convert it into a positive force for action in bringing back Main Street and Buzzards Bay in Bourne. A list of dramatic changes, both in attitudes and renewal along Main Street can be viewed on the BBVA website.
Tom Moccia, President
Buzzards Bay Vitalization Association
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