By Jim Cavan

Everyone’s familiar with the old saying “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade”. It certainly seems innocent and straightforward enough. But, as Marlisa Geroulo of Poco’s Bow Street Cantina knows, things get a little more difficult when you substitute “the city of Portsmouth” for “life” and “an eminent domain slip” for “lemons”.

Two weeks ago the Poco’s deck – a popular downtown destination for over twenty years, particularly during the peak summertime tourism season – was leveled to make way for a new city walkway, which will feature a newly resurfaced sidewalk, improved drainage, and benches. The Mexican-themed restaurant celebrated by offering margaritas and appetizers priced as they were in 1989, when Poco’s first opened. While it was certainly the end of an era for the Portsmouth staple, Geroulo and company are determined to turn the unexpected boot from the waterfront into, well, lemonade.

“We’re definitely making the most of it,” explains Geroulo. “But we really feel that the end result will be a much better space, both in terms of the view of the water as well how sustainable it will be.”

The new plan calls for not one, but two brand new deck spaces; one extending from the back of the restaurant out to where the old deck began, and the other as a walk-out addition to the second floor dining area, complete with brand new French doors.

Initially Geroulo explored achieving certification from LEED, a national building efficiency programs which rates residential and commercial spaces based on sustainability of construction, appliances, and other factors. But after finding out even the most basic certification came with a $30,000 price tag, Geroulo decided to go it alone.

“My perspective was that we would essentially have been paying $30,000 for a plaque,” says Geroulo. “So we decided, particularly in this tough economic time, to take the money we would have spent on the plaque and do every single thing LEED would have required and more.”

What does that include? The better question would be: what doesn’t it include? From making the “envelope” of the building more energy efficient, to setting up rain-water collectors to water surrounding plants and flowers, to bringing in bar and dining tables made from 100 percent recycled plastics and glass – the new-and-improved Poco’s will feature green concepts as fresh and as vibrant as the view, which Gerolou maintains will also be enhanced with the new second story deck.

New plans also include the construction of a new enclosure for the trash compactor and resurfacing of the area between the back of the Bow Street buildings and the waterfront, reconstruction of the Ceres Street sidewalk, and resurfacing of the public portion of Ceres Street.

Geroulo says groundbreaking for the renovation should begin in the coming few weeks, with the entirety of the restaurant’s project to be completed hopefully by Christmas. The city, meanwhile, plans for the new waterfront walkway to be ready for pedestrian strolling by next April.