MANCHESTER — Segway inventor Dean Kamen is cooking up a new invention.

The holder of more than 400 U.S. and foreign patents plans to open a restaurant called The Foundry in one of Kamen’s Millyard buildings, in space that previously hosted Jillian’s and World Sports Grille.

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“It’s happening,” Nate Carney, the restaurant’s general manager, said Friday. “He’s the sole owner.”

The restaurant, which will reflect “the industrial heritage of the mills,” is expected to open in about six weeks, Carney said.
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Carney, whose restaurant experience includes managing The Homestead Restaurant & Tavern in Merrimack, said the menu’s theme is not finalized.

Julie Charron, Kamen’s executive assistant at DEKA Research & Development Corp., said in an email that “at this point in the game we are not ready to make any comments.”
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According to city records, the restaurant will occupy 12,000 square feet at 50 Commercial St., formerly 50 Phillippe Cote St.

Renovations were projected to cost $800,000, according to an application for a building permit submitted by Don Clark, who manages the property.
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Clark, in an interview, deferred to Carney about discussing the project.

“There is some truth to that rumor,” Clark said of Kamen’s restaurant ownership.

Kamen’s inventions include the Segway Human Transporter and the first wearable insulin pump for diabetics.
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He also developed a prosthetic arm that offers a wide range of motions that amputees, primarily wounded U.S. soldiers, can operate via Blue Tooth sensors attached to their shoes. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration allowed DEKA to pursue manufacturing and commercial opportunities for the arm.
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Another Millyard restaurant, The Bayona Cafe, opened in March in the Jefferson Mill along Commercial Street.

mcousineau@unionleader.com
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