Large-Scale Building Upgrades Come to Cannon Street Address By Lisa J. Gotto

 Ever since the multi-use, multi-unit building at 329 Cannon Street was bought by Tom and Betty Dietz in 2023, it has been a regular bustling hive of activity with a series of small businesses and creative enterprises taking shape under its roof over the last three years.

Most recently, the Dietz’s had rented out a portion of the approximately 2,500 square-foot  building to Charles Bennett,  an accomplished chef from Earleville with a penchant for pastry,  so he could create and then offer his popular confections for sale on-site. Operating under the name Brian’s Best Pastries, the partnership has been a sweet success thus far. So much so, the partners were able to make-good on some initial aspirations to one-day develop a larger culinary endeavor that would re-imagine some square footage at the front of the building.

But that’s what the Dietz’s have been doing with this particular piece of real estate (they also own a home on N. Queen Street in which they live year-round) that has quickly become an integral part of the fabric of this community—fabric being the optimal word here.

Most Chestertown residents will be familiar with this address as it has been home of the Skipjack Art Studios over the last few years and hosted local small businesses such as The Waterman’s Wife and the Blueberry Pie Society under its roof. With those two entities relocating, the couple started to re-assess how else they might use the building.

Well-established creatives, the Dietz’s have been using the site primarily as a showcase and instructional gathering space for Betty’s Dream Castle Quilt Studio and a gallery and office for Tom Dietz Photography.

Because sometimes making quilts requires specific tools, Betty says, the spacious layout of the first floor provided the perfect home for her long-arm sewing machine, which looks something like a version of a stretch limo combined with a laser printer.

The machine has been taking up most of the width of the back room, while Tom’s engaging landscape photography has pride of place along the walls of the staircase and central gathering space. Previously, the front of the building was rented as office and professional space to a local lawyer and then a physical therapist.

Along with a one-bedroom apartment, the building’s second floor also had potential for further development. As part of the transformation, Betty says, they will move her quilting studio, where she will continue to hold classes and host meetings for quilters, to the second floor where the floorplan is large enough to accommodate Tom’s photography gallery and office, as well. Betty is currently an active member in two local quilters’ groups; one that she organized herself called Fiber Fanatics.

The re-appropriation of the layout, she continues, enables them to create a gallery exclusively for the display of Fiber Arts on the lower level, which she is opening up to the greater community of artists in this medium.

“I have already signed up a few [artists] to bring their work here,” she says.

Currently, the part of the building previously dedicated to Brian’s Best Pastries cases is being re-invented to become a welcoming and ADA-compliant community gathering space.

“We’re going to place a beautiful table in here,” Betty says, pointing to the central area of the building that is similar to a large lobby.

“And this is going to be a place where we can have lectures and artist previews, and we’re starting in April with our very first show, that I am working on with Washington College.”

The other huge piece to this “work-in-process” puzzle, Brian’s Best Pastries & Café also anticipates opening its doors in early April.

The scope of that project, explains Tom, includes a cheery and bright dining area with front window counter-type seating as well as booth seating along the wall. Two pastry cases will light-up the space with grab and go options, and a separate coffee bar area will balance out the layout providing an additional convenience for patrons.

A new commercial-grade kitchen is also in the works so Bennett will have everything he needs to create his daily breakfast and lunch menus. (The plan currently includes being open Mondays and Tuesdays in addition to the rest of the week, and the discussion of special First Friday dinner events with music is also on the table.)

In warmer weather, Tom anticipates spillover patrons will be enjoying the capital improvements that the Dietz’s plan on making to the exterior of the building that will include creating an ADA-compliant entry for guests along the alley-side of the property and a leveled patio for outdoor café dining under the façade’s trademark replica of the skipjack Elsworth, as well.

While the Dietz’s have largely funded these improvements themselves, Tom says, they are also very grateful for grant money they have received through Main Street Chestertown which has enabled them to offset the cost of some of the project’s interior improvements.

Tom notes that they are encouraged to be part of what they see is a larger effort within their smaller Cannon Street community to become a place that residents and tourists will be drawn to in addition to their business counterparts on High Street.

With fine store fronts and businesses such as Chestertown Natural Foods, Bart’s Records, The Listening Room, Chestertown Electric, and Occasions Catering—all anchored by The Sultana Education Foundation on the corner of Cannon and Cross Streets, the Dietz’s feel there is no reason why, as they like to call it, “Upper Cannon” can’t become as well-known as its High Street counterpart with its own distinct vibe and destinations.

With a new retailer slated to open this year at the former Casa Carmen restaurant site, perhaps an “Upper Cannon District” is something we can all look forward to in the future.

Visit  https://dreamcastlequiltstudio.gallery/ for more info on Dream Castle classes & talks. Visit briansbestpastries.com for updated café info.

Lisa Gotto is a resident of the Chestertown Historical District and owner of the local business, Tea Leaves Media, LLC, a marketing, communications, and content generation company. Since relocating from Pennsylvania in 2015, she has been busy writing and editing for major regional media outlets including What’s Up? Media in Annapolis, Adams Publishing Group, and The Chestertown Spy. Prior to her life in Maryland, Lisa was the Editor-in-Chief of Lehigh Valley Style magazine in Easton, Pennsylvania, and a regular correspondent for The Morning Call of Allentown, Pennsylvania.