Mago Point: a Waterford 'hidden gem'
Apr. 23—WATERFORD — Bob Wadsworth has pretty much seen it all down at Mago Point.
His grandparents essentially built up the waterfront property in the 1940s with a restaurant and eventually Mago Point Marina in 1960, before passing the businesses down to their son, John. Since John's death in 2016, his children Bob, John Jr. and Christine own and operate Mago Point Marina and Captain John's Sport Fishing Center.
There have been numerous businesses that have come and gone in Bob Wadsworth's 63 years, but he likes the direction the area is heading in.
"It was all pretty vacant for a little bit," Wadsworth said on Sunday. "All of sudden it's starting to come back."
The area's most recent addition, The Fat Tuna Restaurant, opened on March 22. Owner and head chef Anthony D'Angelo said he is one of a few business owners in the area looking to improve Mago Point and the greater town community.
"It's such an under-utilized area for Waterford," D'Angelo said. "There's no place in any town around here that has this location with this possibility of development."
Wadsworth agreed.
"There's a lot of townspeople that don't take advantage of it, which is surprising," he said of Mago Point.
Fat Tuna is the sister restaurant to Tony D's Restaurant in New London and Tony D's Craft Creamery in Niantic, both of which are owned by D'Angelo's family. He said he was previously the head chef at Tony D's Restaurant for 20 years.
Now, he has a seafood restaurant by the water with about 30 staff members. D'Angelo, 36, called the property a gem as it offers views of the river, including outdoor dining on a deck, while his youthful staff brings in a unique energy to the area.
D'Angelo said there are plans for a second-floor deck for better views.
"We're about giving the community something to be proud of," he said.
D'Angelo said the Federal Emergency Management Agency's building codes were a burden in renovating the building at 378 Rope Ferry Road, which he purchased in 2021. While he noted the challenges, D'Angelo knows that the process of bringing businesses to the area is worth the troubles.
"The community down here by the water, I think there's a lot more opportunity than it suggests," he said, adding he hopes to see the area continue to grow.
First Selectman Rob Brule said Sunday that Mago Point has been a focus of his since he took office.
"The Town remains committed to responsible economic development within Mago Point and is proud to work with existing and new businesses who are looking to capitalize on the proximity to the river and completing paving of Niantic River Road and Mago Point Road," Brule said.
The town's Planning and Zoning Commission received an application last month for a special permit to renovate a former car repair garage, near the recently installed pickleball court, into a seasonal pickleball clubhouse. The application also calls for an outdoor dining and food truck area, a display of the growing interest in revitalizing the area.
Wadsworth said he would like to see a breakfast-specific restaurant come to the area to complement the early fishing hours but pointed to the lack of parking by the water as a hurdle. He said he likes the full-circle idea of customers from his business feeding the surrounding businesses, and vice versa.
Brule said the town's planning director, Jon Mullen, has worked closely with the state's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to financially partner with the state to create a new overflow parking lot at Mago Point. He added that the Town recently secured a long-term extension for public parking under the Niantic River Bridge as well.
Though Hillyer's Tackle Shop has been a staple of Mago Point since 1934, it too recently had new faces take over.
Ed Lombard and his wife, Michelle, bought the store from the Hillyer family last April. After a career in the fishing industry, and with a personal passion, Lombard said he was looking to purchase a shop when he was approached by the Hillyer family, which ran the shop for three generations.
"It's like a dream come true being able to purchase it," Lombard said, noting he was gifted a custom Hillyer fishing rod when he graduated college.
Lombard, a 47-year-old from Guilford, said he always wanted to keep it a family business and didn't want to veer away from what allowed the store to remain open for 89 years. He and his wife, along with their two teenage sons, all help run the business.
While D'Angelo envisions more shops, restaurants and bars for Mago Point, Lombard said he would like to see the revitalization of the Mago Point Business Association, which would allow businesses to work together on promoting the community.
Lombard said he's seen mentions of the association only in notes here and there since he took over the business, but heard there used to be an annual fishing competition before the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said he would like to see the business association to come back and sponsor a fishing tournament as a way to bring people to the water.
"It's like a little hidden gem community," Lombard said.
