Banquet hall gets new tenants after permit hullabaloo

The former St. Mary’s Church on Commerce Street in Milford Village has two new tenants who reopened the church with a wedding on July 30 and an open house during the Milford Memories festival on the weekend of Aug. 13.

According to Village Building Official Randy Sapalak, the new tenants are Brian and Ruth Gray, a husband and wife team who are the former operators of Ruggles Cafe.

They also recently opened a new deli in Milford called Deli 7, according to Sapalak.

The Grays are currently marketing their facility as “The Old Stone Church Banquet Center,” and it is set to host events including weddings, murder mystery theater, banquets, dances and more.

However, Sapalak said the building has not been approved as a banquet center because it has yet to undergo a health department inspection and have electrical work finished.

Without approval from the health department, food and drinks cannot be served in the facility.

Sapalak allowed the July 30 wedding to take place in the building after he deemed it was safe to do so.

He added that the new tenants plan to contact the health department and finish the electrical work, but there is an issue over the installation of a sprinkler system in the facility.

Sapalak said the tenants have an architect that will appeal to the state over its requirement of a sprinkler system in the facility. Without a sprinkler system, a maximum of 99 people would be allowed inside.

This new development comes three months after Sapalak put a halt to proposed plans by Kim and Dan Russo to transform the church into a banquet and rental hall called “The Gathering Place.”

Sapalak said at the time that the building never received a certificate of occupancy and that functions still occurred there, prompting a stop work order on renovation work.