MOUNT DESERT, Maine — A company long known for operating the Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park is getting back into the restaurant business and this time is adding commercial guest accommodations to its portfolio.
Acadia Corp., which in 2013 lost its bid to renew its Jordan Pond House contract, has signed an agreement with the owners of the Asticou Inn to operate the inn’s lodging, restaurant and other functions, the Bar Harbor-based company announced Monday. Among the offerings Acadia Corp. plans to make available at the 131-year-old inn are the popovers that have been a main attraction at the Jordan Pond House, which Acadia Corp. operated for more than 60 years.
Instead of serving popovers, ice cream, tea and more substantial dishes to diners overlooking Jordan Pond and the Bubbles mountains, the company will offer them to diners overlooking boats moored in Northeast Harbor, where many well-to-do seasonal residents own summer homes.
“The Acadia Corporation is thrilled to become part of this historic island hotel which shares a similar legacy and tradition from the era when both [the inn and Acadia Corp.] were created,” Acadia Corp. President David Woodside said in a prepared statement.
Acadia Corp. had been a contracted concessioner in the park since 1933 until it lost its bid to renew its contract two years ago. Dawnland LLC, a subsidiary of New Mexico-based Ortega National Parks LLC, won a competitive bidding process and was awarded a 10-year contract by the National Park Service to operate the restaurant and three gift shops — one adjacent to the Jordan Pond House, another at Thunder Hole and another at the summit of Cadillac Mountain.
The decision to award the park’s concessions contract to a different company created an uproar among many loyal to Acadia Corp. and resulted in a court challenge that eventually was dismissed by a federal judge. Acadia Corp., which also owns and operates retail businesses in downtown Bar Harbor, has not been in the restaurant business since it closed the Jordan Pond House for the winter in the fall of 2013.
The Asticou Inn will be the first lodging business operated by Acadia Corp. Woodside said Tuesday the company is considering whether to hire an employee who has guest accommodation management experience to help run the hotel side of operations or whether it may instead hire an outside consultant to help with learning the lodging ropes.
The seasonal inn has room for about 50 guests between the main inn building and surrounding cabins and dining space for about 100 people, including an “expansive deck” overlooking the harbor, according to Woodside. He said the owners of the inn recently approached Acadia Corp. about managing the property. The parties have agreed to move ahead on a year-to-year basis, he added.
Acadia Corp. has operated other restaurants. In the mid-2000s, it briefly ran the former Miguel’s restaurant in downtown Bar Harbor under the name Seasons.
Woodside said Tuesday that running the Asticou will be a better fit for the company than Seasons was. He said it is more of a destination, instead of a place to grab a bite, which can be paired with visits to the Asticou Azalea or Thuya gardens, which are open to the public and are within walking distance — similar to the way the Jordan Pond House draws customers who want to explore some of the nearby walking and carriage trails in Acadia. Village trails that lead into Acadia also can be found near the Asticou, he said.
Woodside said the Asticou restaurant has much smaller volume of customers than Jordan Pond House, but the company hopes to draw more visitors from the general public who already have accommodations elsewhere. The goal, he said, is to offer a more distinctive experience to customers rather than just providing a place to sleep or eat.
“We’re definitely looking to expand on that [walk-in] business,” he said. “[Running the Asticou] seemed like a natural connection.”
Woodside said he expects the inn and restaurant to open in mid-May and to stay open through mid-October.
