By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Plans are taking shape for a new restaurant at the Saugatuck site where other eateries have served meals for decades.

The Bridge at Saugatuck, a new restaurant and bar, is slated to open at 535 Riverside Ave., most recently the Parker Mansion restaurant, and for many years earlier, the Mansion Clam House.

Plans for the new restaurant were reviewed Tuesday by the Architectural Review Board.

A major change in the existing structure — moving the entrance from the front of the building facing Riverside Avenue around to a door off the parking lot — met some resistance from ARB members.

Not only would that require patrons to go around to the side of the building to enter,  the modern design of the new side entrance with a small canopy looks “a little bit weak,” ARB member David Halpern said.

Frederick Hoag, the project’s architect, said the front door would have opened directly into the bar, which is not preferred by the applicant, and that the size of the canopy for the side door is limited by zoning regulations.

In the end, ARB members agreed the design of the new side entrance and its canopy are primarily subjective rather than regulatory issues, and voted unanimously to approve the plans.

Progress on renovations taking place at the Riverside Avenue building can be seen on the restaurant’s Instagram page.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.