THE new owners of Poole Park’s stunning waterside eatery have announced exciting plans for its future.

Richard and Sarah de Lisle bought Sevens Boat Shed in October, taking over a 33-year lease, and are keen to refurbish and re-launch the loss-making venue.

They have already ploughed £1.8 million into the family-themed café and play area The Ark, re-launching the former Gus Gorillas attraction. And this Christmas they transformed the cricket pavilion into Santa’s grotto.

Now the couple, who have two young children and are US stock market fund managers, have plans to transform the park’s lakeside restaurant.

They want to turn it into a welcoming café that is open to all park users and have been visiting other park establishments to do some research.

“We want people to feel they can come in and relax and have a coffee rather than feel they are going out to a big restaurant,” said Richard. “It’s a public facility rather than an exclusive restaurant.”

Sarah said: “We have got to welcome park users and not alienate them. We want to make the menu more accessible.”

Chef Dan Murphy will be working on the British menu and they plan to refurbish and re-launch the grand café under a new name in 2015. “We have got some stuff to do,” said Richard. “We will not be closed for long, we are going to get on with it.”

Opened in 2007 as Mezza Luna, the two-storey glass fronted building offers stunning views across the lake and over to the harbour from the first floor and they are determined to make the most of the opportunities it offers for events, weddings and parties.

They also see the potential to hold more events in the Victorian park, such as the stunning aerial stunts performed by French trapeze artists CirkVOST on a 15m high bamboo scaffold as part of last summer’s Inside Out Dorset Festival.

The couple now employ 60 people, 41 of them at The Ark. “I don’t know another soft play like that,” said Sarah. “They are normally on an industrial estate. It’s going to be our legacy.”