New China Palace waterfront lease extended through Labor Day

The New China Palace restaurant has been given a three-month lease extension that will allow it to stay on the Oak Ridge waterfront through Labor Day.

It’s expected to be the last lease extension for New China Palace at the city-owned property at Melton Lake Park. The restaurant received one other three-month extension that started in March and runs through the end of May.

The restaurant plans to re-open later this year at the former Village Restaurant property on Central Avenue.

On Thursday, Oak Ridge Economic Development Consultant Ray Evans said Tony Cappiello, who owns the Central Avenue property, has a final architectural review for the proposed new restaurant today and could submit site plans on Monday.

The city has developed a master plan for the waterfront area that recommends the current New China Palace site be remodeled as a bathhouse facility. It would be used to support a growing number of rowing and public activities as part of an ambitious plan to revamp the waterfront from Elza Gate Park to Rivers Run Boulevard.

Some work on the waterfront plan has already been done, including paving the parking lot at Elza Gate Park and building a new pavilion at Melton Lake Park.

An earlier plan to replace the New China Palace with a casual diner stirred a public uproar, and it was put on hold. That proposal had been included in a waterfront plan approved by Oak Ridge City Council in December 2009.

In February 2011, the Oak Ridge City Council approved a two-year lease with the New China Palace that give the city time to review its plans.

In April, restaurant owner Cheng Ping Ren said he has a five-year lease with Cappiello on the Central Avenue site.

Ren said the new restaurant will still be about 3,500 square feet, and it will have a similar look, style, and menu as the current location.

Note: This story was updated at 10:10 a.m. May 17.