where two previous tenants failed.

Mr. Fosco Nannini and his wife Mrs. Sharon Nannini are due to open the Pirate's Landing on the site of the closed Waterside Inn at the end of April.

They take over the property from Mr. David Le'Strange and his wife Mrs. Susan LeStrange who closed their operation in January after failing to renegotiate their lease.

And while the Nanninis are confident they can succeed, details of the problems which face the Waterside Inn started to emerge this week.

Mr. Le'Strange said the space was rented from the West End Development Corporation by businessman Mr. Tony Smith on a 21-year lease.

The key cause of the business's closure in January was the failed attempt to renegotiate the lease between Mr. Smith's interests and Curzon Ltd., Mr.

Le'Strange's operating company.

Mr. Le'Strange said yesterday the restaurant was given professional advice that questioned the company's viability as a result of the cost of rent.

Mr. Le'Strange said: "The asking price for rent out there had been $78,000 by Tony Smith.

"We offered to give him $6,000 a month and two percent of gross revenue. The first year, it accumulated to more than $74,000 and the second year more than $76,000.

"We were advised in the second week in January by a reputable accountancy firm on the Island to shut the business down as it wasn't viable. We were told by this company of accountants that unless the rent was reduced drastically, the business was not viable.

"Over January and February we tried to renegotiate the lease for a better rent. There was a clause in the five year lease that we could renegotiate after two years. Nothing was agreed to.'' But Mr. Smith, who said that he felt Mr. Le'Strange's figures may be over-estimates, argued the restaurant generated no where near the its potential in gross sales. He did not think that the rents charged were high.

Mr. Smith said: "In the restaurant business, rents are based on the overall percentage of gross, varying from 6-12 percent. The better the location, the greater the amount of traffic, the higher the percentage.

"The volume that should be done in that restaurant is something like three quarters of a million dollars. They were doing less than half a million dollars in trade.'' Mr. Smith said that the operators before them (Bill and Wendy Meade) were doing closer to $750,000 annually in trade. And he would not be surprised, he said, if another establishment in the area, the Frog & Onion pub, was not grossing something approximating $750,000.

"And we have a better location,'' he added. "We are right there where all the people get off the ferry. Anyone operating there should make it a success.'' The new operators are equally confident that they can make a long term success out of it with the right mixture of food, service and ambience.

Mr. Nannini said "The Pirate's Landing'' will provide seating for 56 people inside and 120 outside and hire about 13 people, including four chefs and six waiters.

The couple already own West End success story Il Palio Italian restaurant in Somerset and Nannini's Haagen Daz ice cream parlour in the Dockyard.

In addition, they own Pasta Pasta in St. George's and have an interest in Pasta Basta in Hamilton.

Mr. Nannini said: "I'm confident that it will be a success. We have an idea and are willing to work hard and I'm sure we will be able to make it. I see a lot of potential in the Dockyard, more than anywhere else right now.

"So long as we start on the right foot, start right, we should have no problems. I'm hoping even in the off-season to do a fair amount of business with locals and the tourists we have in the winter time. We do get a lot of visitors in the West End in winter. We know that because we are still selling them ice cream in the winter time.

"We are going to be different, providing a wide selection of different types of cuisine at the new restaurant. It's going to be a very bright light for us.

The former abandoned warehouse was upgraded by Mr. Smith and originally sub-let to Mr. Bill Meade and his wife Mrs. Wendy Meade, who in September, 1992 bundled up their two-year-old child and fled the country, owing creditors a small fortune.

Leaving a trail of false clues as to their whereabouts, the Meades failed to answer Supreme Court writs lodged against them.

Last September, a newspaper article claimed that the pair were "thought to have left debts estimated at $250,000'' when they walked away from their "Blue Oyster'' restaurant.

A local bank was said to be in the courts seeking more than $111,000 from them. Their commercial landlord, Mr. Smith, was also seeking many thousands of dollars. There were other creditors.