Auction of Finnerty’s Items Will Benefit Wayland

Earlier this year, friends and Wayland residents Matthew Levy and Jesse Adelman closed the deal that made them at the corner of Main and West Plain streets.

One step in turning that long-vacant building into a newly vibrant site is clearing out the restaurant equipment, wooden and brass décor, artwork, bars and other items left behind in the building.

“The bar is stocked, the kitchen looks like people could walk in and start cooking,” Adelman said, adding that the building itself has deteriorated from lack of use, but many of the items inside look eerily ready for use.

Levy and Adelman decided they could clear out the building and help the town at the same time with an auction. Items inside will be auctioned to interested customers, and a portion of the proceeds from that auction will go to Wayland’s renovation efforts underway for the Hannah Williams Playground.

“Matt and I had kids that grew up going [to Hannah Williams],” Adelman said. “We want to support it.”

At 11 a.m. on March 29, Paul Saperstein and Company Auctioneers and Appraisers will open the doors of Finnerty’s to anyone wanting to purchase some of the wide variety of items still in the old restaurant.

According to the auction company’s website, items up for auction include a 6-foot by 10-foot ornate carved wood wall mirror; a 10-foot painted hunting scene; bar stools; brass, copper and iron chandeliers; and a wide array of countertop appliances and kitchen implements among various other items.

Opening the doors of the restaurant for the auction serves the additional purpose, Levy said, of allowing the public an opportunity to see inside the long closed-up restaurant.

In terms of bringing new tenants to the space, Levy and Adelman are in the process of securing the leases, but aren’t ready to talk specifically about the what the retail and/or restaurants coming to town might be.

“We have lots of different scenarios we’re looking at,” Adelman said. “Things are moving ahead,” Adelman said.