THUNDER BAY -- In July of 2021, Aaron Gillingham became the new owner and operator of East Coast Lobster, purchasing the company from Randy and Linda Gaudette.
A year later he stood outside the former Maier Hardware store with a newly launched downtown improvement grant and visions of growing his seafood shop in the building located in the heart of Thunder Bay's Westfort.
Gillingham recently opened his trendy and historic building as the new location of East Coast Lobster and has vacated the original Brentwood mall location. He said making old new again is never easy.
"I actually bought the building before I even bought the seafood store and we've had this building for three years now," Gillingham said.
"We started renovations almost immediately and worked for two and a half years on the renos and the bulk of it has taken place in the last six months. Thankfully the weather has been on our side and extended the construction season. It's been a long process."
Gillingham said there were other funding opportunities but it was a stretch to fit in the criteria.
"We settled on the improvement grant and maxed that out. The rest was private funding, so I need to sell some crab legs," he said.
Built in 1880, the building has a heritage designation. Reinforcement to the structural support along with brickwork and masonry had to be done.
"We replaced the roof, installed all new windows and commercial doors, and took down the old plaster walls," he said.
"We pretty much refurbished it from top to bottom. We had to install all new electrical, all new mechanical infrastructure including furnaces, plumbing — the works —and we installed a commercial kitchen on the second floor. It's a brand new building within this beautiful ancient brick that you see from the outside."
Inside, the original Maier Hardware sign hangs on the wall overlooking the assortment of seafood that is available in the modern, open-top freezer system.
"The biggest part of the job was taking apart our existing freezers and moving them in over the last few weeks," Gillingham said, adding it took a day and a half to take them apart and another day and a half to put them back together.
He said it was challenging to make the space most efficient and they are happy with the way it turned out.
The kitchen will provide the seafood store with different meals offered every couple of weeks prepared by a talented culinary team. It will also serve as food preparation for an event space next door which is still under construction.
"That's also been a work in progress," he said.
"It's a multipurpose space with a tin ceiling, the original wood floor and the brick walls and will be available to rent or use ourselves for all kinds of cool seafood events. It has a capacity for up to 100 people and blends the historical building with our product."
Gillingham, who is the owner of The Sal Restaurant, just around the corner, said he has had requests to host events at the restaurant but the space was too small. With the new event space adjacent to the seafood shop, he says he will be able to work with both companies to host events.
The Chronicle-Journal/Local Journalism Initiative
