CARLSBAD -- A retired businessman who wants California schoolchildren to experience Revolutionary-era history is proposing to transform an old fruit-stand building in Carlsbad into a copy of a Boston tavern where the nation's Founding Fathers once gathered.

The "Green Dragon Tavern," which would be more of a restaurant and a museum than a bar, would go in the long-vacant Hadley's fruit and nut building on Paseo del Norte.

The 3-acre property is just east of Interstate 5, and southwest of the famed Flower Fields and the Legoland California amusement park.

"Not all people get to travel to the East Coast, so I thought (this project) would be a real benefit to them," retired businessman Bruce Bartlett said Wednesday as he discussed his plans, which have been in the works for several years.

His proposal received approval from Carlsbad's Planning Commission earlier this month and is scheduled to go before the City Council in May, said Jason Goff, a city planner.

Bartlett, who splits his time between Rancho Santa Fe and Massachusetts, said he has long believed that California kids miss out when it comes to having a strong understanding of the nation's the Revolutionary War era.

Unlike children on the East Coast, they can't easily walk the streets of Philadelphia or Boston.

Instead of taking class field trips to the Liberty Bell or various battlefield sites, California school kids celebrate "Wild West" days, build models of the Spanish missions and learn how to pan for gold.

To change the local kids' perspective, Bartlett is proposing to create a row of colonial buildings that would contain 21,281 square feet of interior space.

One of the structures in the row would be a copy the Green Dragon Tavern, which has been described as the "headquarters of the Revolution," Bartlett said.

It was a frequent gathering spot for some of the independence movement's leaders, including Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Paul Revere.

An avid collector of letters, newspapers and other historic documents from the Revolutionary War period, Bartlett said he plans to display part of his collection within his proposed museum.

Old newspapers will go up on the walls and children will receive coloring books featuring events from the period, he added.

"I've always been interested in history. Living back in Massachusetts, you can't help appreciating the Revolution and the pilgrim history," he said Wednesday.

He is active in the Pilgrim Society and serves on the board of the New England Genealogical Society. That organization, which was established in 1845, bills itself as the oldest of its type in the nation.

Bartlett has been a huge supporter of the organization for many years, said Brenton Simons, its president and chief executive officer.

"With his help, we were able to recently acquire a rare, original letter by President John Quincy Adams, an early member of our society, and add it to our collections," he wrote in an e-mail Thursday.

In his report to the city of Carlsbad, Bartlett said that he was proposing to build a combination museum/restaurant because he thinks typical museums are "undervisited because they are perceived as boring."

A former math teacher and certified public accountant, Bartlett said he will self-finance the project using money he made starting a series of companies in the utilities and manufacturing sectors.

Plans call for construction to take less than two years, he said.

During their review of the project April 15, the city's Planning Commissioners said they loved the old-style design with its period light fixtures, red brick veneer, lap board siding and dormer windows.

They also said his location was outstanding because it's near several of the city's large tourist attractions.

"It's a nice fit and it's a nice looking project," Commissioner Mike Cardosa said.