The proposal for the restaurant at 819 Mohawk St. was presented to the commission Oct. 7 by Design Collective, representing new owner Rick Doody of NCR Ventures. The plan calls for about 1,460 square feet of additional space, including roughly 550 square feet on the first floor and more than 300 square feet for a patio. If completed as proposed, the restaurant would have just over 8,100 square feet of interior space and a 637-square-foot patio.

The commission approved the first-floor addition. It also indicated support for roof dormers with operable windows, provided the applicant returns with an updated plan. Commissioners turned down a request to replace the building’s existing front windows with uniform new ones. “You are destroying historic fabric, replacing with something that’s new, and has no justification or grounds for it being changed that way,” Commissioner Edward Thiell said at the meeting.

The Old Mohawk began as a general store in 1906, opened by German sailor Ferdinand Thomas, and became a restaurant in 1933. NCR bought the business in July from longtime owner Michael Reames and retained its existing staff. The company has said it does not plan immediate changes to the restaurant’s operations, including its menu.

The commission’s decision allows some expansion work to advance while keeping the building’s original storefront windows in place. The Old Mohawk is open daily, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday and until 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.