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AMHERST – Where many see age and decay, Jeff Bembridge sees opportunity.

Amherst is well-known for its rich Victorian architecture, exhibited in many stately homes from the turn of the 19th century. But it also has had its share of historical buildings that lost the test of time.

Enter Bembridge, who nearly 20 years ago looked at the former Terris pharmacy building on Victoria Street in downtown Amherst and thought of its business potential. Duncan’s Pub was born.

It’s something he has repeated several times since then.

“Where some see an old building that should be demolished I see something that can be fixed up and brought back to life,” Bembridge said. “I believe these buildings are an important part of the downtown area and we should be doing all we can to fix them up, as long as they haven’t gotten too far in deteriorating.”

It wasn’t long after opening the pub, which became a popular downtown destination, that a devastating fire destroyed the Windsor and Black block buildings in September 2012 and severely damaged the police station.

Following the fire, the town moved the police to the top floor of the Four Fathers Memorial Library, with the intention of demolishing the former police building. Bembridge bought the property for a toonie and redeveloped it as Breakfast at Brittney’s.

“It has gone very well. One of the things I found was we needed a place downtown where people could get breakfast,” Bembridge said. “We had Connor’s at the time on South Albion Street, but I thought a breakfast restaurant downtown that would be open to rentals after 2 o’clock would work.”

It wasn’t long after he opened the breakfast restaurant that Via Rail announced plans to close its historic Amherst train station on Station Street. Looking for a new home for Bambino’s Pizzeria, Bembridge approached the rail company and the Town of Amherst about a plan to redevelop the building as a new home for Bambino’s, but also a family restaurant.

With the train station, Bembridge hit his first significant bump in the road. He expressed interest in the building several years ago and signed several contracts with the town and Via Rail only to have the rail company come back and request more.

Several construction seasons were lost and Bembridge began to wonder if he would ever be successful. In fact, be started to think of abandoning the project and locating Bambino’s in another building.

“It all worked out in the end,” he said. “Sometimes you just have to patiently wait for things to make their way through the bureaucracy when you’re dealing with the federal government. It shouldn’t have taken as long as it did, but it’s done and we’ve moved on.”

The restaurant at the train station will feature a 50-55-seat licensed family restaurant at the front of the building, while Bambino’s Pizzeria will be located at the south end of the building.

The building will feature cast-iron radiators from the turn of the 19th century while the slate roof has been repurposed into the wall of the building’s interior.



Under the terms of the agreement, Via Rail turned the building over to the Town of Amherst and the town is leasing it to Bembridge for five years (it’s now four years) after which he will take ownership of the building.

Recently, as the train-station project continued, Bembridge turned his attention to the east end of Victoria Street and the former Duffy’s Esso.

Amherst has lacked a downtown gas station for more than a decade. While it’s too early to tell if a gas station will return, Bembridge is developing the building in hopes of convincing a gas retailer to give it another shot while the former service bays will be used for rustproofing and auto detailing.

With the train station project expected to be up and running by early spring and the service centre soon after that, Bembridge already has his next project in mind.

“I have already have something I’m working on, but I’m not ready yet to say what it is,” he said.

In the grand scheme of things Bembridge has his reasons for doing what he has done, but he said it comes down to one thing. “I love Amherst and believe in it.”

