The county-owned, privately operated restaurant in Cooper River Park will reopen after the being shuttered for three years.
PENNSAUKEN TOWNSHIP -- As the weeks get warmer and Cooper River Park's paths and playgrounds spring to life, a different kind of park denizen is coming out of hibernation this year.
The former Lobster Trap restaurant on the banks of the river is emerging this spring as the Cooper House after undergoing a 15-month, $2.9 million transformation that aims to make it a hub for the bustling park and a destination for good, local food and drinks.
"We wanted to make it a place where the community can come together,' said Camden County's Director of Events and Community Outreach Sandi Kelly, who has been working on the county-owned, privately operated restaurant's revival. She said after the Lobster Trap's former longtime operator died in 2013 and the restaurant shuttered, the county -- which owns the property that sits within the county park's border -- did extensive research and realized the market was saturated was sports bar concepts. So they set out to do something a little different.
"We wanted to create a unique experience," said Kelly.
Officials interviewed more than a dozen parties interested in taking over the facility but said it was clear Kevin Meeker, the well-known restauranteur and owner of Westmont's Keg and Kitchen, had the best vision.
"It was a diamond in the rough," said Meeker, whose group KTMK will operate the restaurant while the county serves as its landlords. "I saw an opportunity to become part of a community and do something I haven't done before."
They already had one part of the key equation for a successful eatery down -- location. The prime spot on the river with its scenic views, central spot in a park that sees half a million visitors a year and access to both Camden County's high-density neighborhoods and nearby suburbs sets them up for success, officials said.
"They already come here," said Camden County Deputy Administrator Dominic Vesper Jr. "All we had to do was build it."
The county views the restaurants as a park amenity, a place where families can stop by after a day at the park or locals can frequent for dinner and drinks on the weekends. Vesper said they set out to renovate the interior while maintaining the building's current footprint, which he said was far from an easy task.
Starting in February of 2015, they got to work on what Kelly called a "reimagination," which included expanding the size of the kitchen, turning an outdoor, tent-covered porch into an interior dining room with river views and redoing all of the building's systems. The construction cost $2.3 million and interior renovations brought the total cost, included in the county's capital expenditures, to $2.9 million, said Vesper, with an aim on making it a revenue-neutral asset to the county.
The overall design scheme draws on the restaurant's natural surroundings and origins as a tennis clubhouse built in 1937 through President Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration. The redesign of the building, known as the Hadley House, incorporates wooden elements, original stonework and a striking art installation that uses colorful threads and strategically placed nails to form a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote, "Nature always wears the colors of the spirit."
The county and Meeker's group also set out to put a talented chef in charge of its new kitchen, and tapped Tyler Turner for the job.
Turner left his most recent gig with Stephen Starr's Mexican restaurants in Phildelphia after five years to become the head chef at the Cooper House when Meeker came knocking. Turner said he wasn't looking for a new opportunity, but couldn't turn this one down.
"To be able to put 'me' into a menu is fun and a challenge," said Turner, who drew from a his varied cooking career -- which includes cuisines ranging from Pennsylvania Dutch to Cuban to Vietnamese -- to craft the restaurant's varied offerings.
That means patrons can go traditional with Tyler's classic wedge salad and wings or dig into more offbeat items like charred octopus and a white barbecue grilled half chicken. Turner also brought his own smoker over to the Cooper House to add a dry rub smoked brisket, served in a spicy apple butter barbecue sauce, to the menu.
"There's something for everybody," said Turner.
That's the idea, said Cooper House General Manager Ken Merriman. The veteran manager of Center City eateries said he's been in the business long enough to know that every customer walks into a restaurant for a different reason, whether it's to celebrate, take a break, deal with a difficult blow or any manner in between. It's their job to be prepared for it all and make their time there exactly the kind of escape they're looking for.
"To do it properly, they don't know we're doing it," said Merriman with a smile.
The name Cooper House came from a contest that was launched to find the perfect moniker, and a committee of stakeholders choose the submission from Cherry Hill resident Amber Staffa. She won a free dinner a month for the next year for her contribution, which Meeker said encapsulates everything the Cooper House is -- a cozy, homelike feel that represents all the river has to offer.
"It says it all," he said.
Michelle Caffrey may be reached at mcaffrey@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShellyCaffrey. Find NJ.com on Facebook.