Economic development may be a go at last on the little Waterford peninsula that has never quite been able to grab its share.

Developer Paul Daversa, a Waterford homeowner and East Lyme native, wants to build a "destination" barbecue restaurant fronting the Niantic River in Mago Point.

Waterford is earnestly and wisely seizing the opportunity to add private investment to its plans to revitalize the little marine-centered neighborhood north of the highway and railroad bridges.

It's been 25 years since the "new" Niantic River highway drawbridge went into use, replacing an old swing bridge that often got stuck when it opened for boats to pass through the narrow channel. Nonetheless, it had its nostalgic fans and it brought traffic and activity to Mago Point.

In the quarter-century since, the riverside neighborhood of Mago Point, a pearl of a piece of land, has become a backwater. Passed over by Route 156, its charter boats, bait shops, and restaurants lost any hope of sidewalk appeal and became a destination really only for fishermen and others who knew where to look.

Daversa, CEO of Daversa Partners, a tech recruitment firm, said through his lawyer that he wants to build a 4,500-square-foot high-end barbecue smokehouse surrounded by 1,800 square feet of deck facing the river. Collaborating with him is his brother Peter, an internationally known barbecue pit master.

Since the summer of 2014 the town has been doing what towns do when they hope to attract revenue-producing development to promising parcels: Using a half-million-dollar state grant, Waterford hired two consulting firms to develop a master plan. It called for increased handicapped access, improved parking, the offering of facade improvement loans and updated zoning for the peninsula that includes valuable waterfront and the kind of salty local atmosphere that sells Down East Maine to tourists. Zoning regulations have been under review and a proposed fishing pier is going through environmental vetting by the state.

The Daversas' plan ups the ante dramatically, giving the municipal effort a potential well-financed private partner in reviving the fortunes of Mago Point.

Others have tried. In the 1920s the firm of Titus and Bishop planned a development on the point, but the Great Depression stopped its progress. In the 1940s, the Wadsworth family took ownership. Longtime resident Jane Wadsworth says the on-again, off-again prospects gave the area its name: "It may go, or it may not."

Most recently, the Mago Point Business Association has been working with the town, but all parties face a challenge that earlier developers did not. FEMA regulations will require extra height on new buildings and may force other modifications that business owners find tough to swallow. Even more, the new FEMA requirements could change the character of the place, which is part of its appeal.

First Selectman Dan Steward says the town is hopeful of finding a way to make it work. Zoning regulations need to modernize and become more flexible, but in a way that makes sense for the public.

"Another Watch Hill" was how Steward described the vision to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy when the governor stopped by to announce the half-million-dollar STEAP grant in July 2014. A market place village with a nearby high-end restaurant does conjure up Watch Hill, but without the palatial estates, and it could be just the combination of small and bigger business that would put Mago Point back on the map.