Bridge Street in Sackville will soon look very different. The iconic Mel’s Tea Room neon sign that has graced the street for 77 years is coming down. But the sign will remain within the soon to be created Town of Tantramar.
The owner and operator of the Dorchester Jail inn, Bill Steele, has made a deal to purchase the sign from owners Dave and Wendy Epworth, and has plans to mount it on the side of the jail building in Dorchester. Steele has also purchased a number of other memorabilia items from the Epworths and will create a Mel’s inspired display inside the Jail.
Hear Bill Steele in conversation on Tantramar Report:
Steele says he had been following the Mel’s saga, and has originally hoped the diner would be able to reopen for business. But after two years of repeated pandemic closures, the most recent closure due to a kitchen ceiling collapse which went un-repaired for seven months proved to be the nail in the coffin for the business. New building owners John Ernst and Tyler Gay took ownership in August and gave the Epworths two months to find a buyer for the diner business. That deadline expired on September 30, and the Epworths had until October 11 to remove their belongings. That included deciding what to do with the sign.
The Epworths said last week that Ernst and Gay has enquired about the price of the sign, and that they were looking for a fair price considering their investment in 2019, and the significant debt they had incurred.
“Unfortunately, that sign is a major asset of this business,” said Wendy Epworth on October 4. “And if the people coming in aren’t willing to buy it from us, then that essentially means that somebody’s banking on the fact that we can’t actually remove it. And, you know, that feels like we’re being taken advantage of.”
“I’m really disappointed that the new owners didn’t take the initiative to keep [the sign] there,” says Steele. “It’s such a shame.” Steele recalls the first time he saw the sign on Bridge Street, and thinking, “Wow, look at that. That’s beautiful. You don’t see those signs around very often.”
And while it’s being removed from Bridge Street, Steele considers the move to Dorchester as preserving the sign in the wider community.
“It could have been going to the United States and you could never see it again,” says Steele. “A lot of people say they’re upset, but they’re happy to see that it’s being saved. And it’s not [going to] just disappear and never be seen again. It’s gonna stay in the community. You can come visit, take pictures.”
Steele says after making the deal for the sign to hang outside the Jail building, he decided on acquiring some other items to put on display as a tribute to Mel’s inside the building. He acquired some stools from the Mel’s counter and some benches from the old bus depot that used to operate out of the back of the Mel’s building. He also got some 50’s era vintage coffee cups and saucers, ice cream dishes and some wooden chocolate boxes with “Mel’s Ice Cream Shop” written on the side. Melbourne Goodwin started the business in 1919 as a fruit and ice cream parlour, and relocated to Bridge Street in 1945. His grandson Roger Goodwin continued to run the shop until he sold the business and then the building to Ken Mikalauskas in 2012 and 2017.
Steele says he will use the memorabilia for a tribute display inside the Jail. He says the display will be “part of the whole experience of visiting our place here. We have a lot of artifacts and different kinds of unusual things.”
“I think that’s a very important piece of the history of the community that should be saved,” says Steele. “And you know what, I stepped up and I saved it. So I’m proud of that.”
Steele says the sign will be removed from Bridge Street and mounted on the Dorchester Jail as soon as possible, and is currently getting quotes on the work. “I’m excited to get it up. Hopefully, it’s going to go right from Mel’s to here.” Steele says he thinks the wiring for the sign could take a little longer, so it may be a while before the neon glows again.
