Fireside Transition Leaves Local Groups Looking For Accommodations

By John Voket

Several readers including members of the local Rotary contacted The Newtown Bee this week suggesting that The Fireside Inn, arguably the community’s largest full service banquet facility, is closed and apparently on the verge of being sold.

The assertion was further reinforced when The Bee called the facility Wednesday about booking availability, and an unidentified male who answered the phone first said he could not help. When pressed about any future catering openings, a reporter was told the facility was closed and about to be sold.

A subsequent call to Dom Pulieri, the owner of the property, was transferred to a voicemail message that said the establishment was still providing banquet and catering services, although the restaurant and bar were closed for renovations and “reopening soon.”

The Bee then visited the facility in person Thursday morning in the hope of clarifying the matter, and was told by Mr Pulieri that he currently had no bookings on the facilities calendar, and that he would be able to further discuss any pending sale news Friday, August, 25.

After being told about the situation, Community Development Director Elizabeth Stocker said it sounded as though the sale was imminent. She added that the Town’s Economic Development Commission, which typically holds an October Salute to Business at the Fireside, was not planning to have the event there.

 “I was aware there is an interested buyer for the property, “ she said. “[The closing] would leave a void in local banquet services.”

That comment was echoed by representatives of the local Rotary, who scheduled a recent meeting in the pavilion at Dickinson Park after being told the group could no longer meet at the catering establishment. Rotarian Alan Clavette said the Fireside’s closing would be unfortunate.

“This is going to force a lot of larger groups to book banquet and hospitality services out of town,” Mr Clavette said.

State Representative Julia Wasserman was also disappointed upon hearing of the possible loss of local large-scale banquet services in town.

“I’m surprised to hear it’s closing,” Rep Wasserman said. “The Fireside has been good to the town and the town has been good to the Fireside.”

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said he had made many visits to The Fireside Inn.

“It certainly provided a good place for many local organizations to have events over the years. I’m sorry to see it close,” said the First Selectman. “They have been a good corporate citizen.”

He classified the facility as a valuable commercial property.

“It offers all kinds of opportunities,” Mr Rosenthal said.

According to Ms Stocker, her office has no data on the benefit such a facility has to other local businesses.

“The activity there has been cyclical, so it’s really difficult to measure how much of an impact it has,” she said. “But I expect the location will continue to serve the community in one way or another.

“It may have more of an economic impact,” Ms Stocker said. “But without having an idea of the next use, it’s impossible to say whether or not a new use will provide greater employment opportunities, economic benefits, personal property tax benefits — it has a lot of potentials.”

Ms Stocker said no future banquet facility development is currently under consideration in town, but the Fireside’s closing opens up an opportunity for one.

“Perhaps it will spur some action in Hawleyville, which is currently zoned for a convention center/hotel,” she said. “Or maybe the new buyer will decide to keep the facility functioning as a catering business.

“We did have a convention center/meeting hall proposed for Fairfield Hills, but it didn’t end up in the master plan,” she said.

Ms Stocker pointed out the recent renovations in the Alexandria Room at Edmond Town Hall, along with improved handicapped accessibility and plans to renovate the catering kitchen there, could bode well for the future as preliminary plans are laid to move municipal offices to a new town hall complex at Fairfield Hills.

“The Alexandria Room could certainly accommodate smaller functions,” she said. “But losing the Fireside will mean larger events will have to consider facilities outside town.”

She said those facilities include the Stony Hill Inn in Bethel, Villa Bianca in Seymour, The Royale in Derby, The Heritage and Crowne Plaza in Southbury, and the new Waterside in Stevenson.

“While it may be the end of a chapter for the Fireside, it may be the beginning of a new chapter for a potential new conference center here in Newtown,” Ms Stocker concluded.

On July 27, The Bee reported that the popular catering facility was listed among more than two dozen commercial sites on a link accessible through the town’s EDC website. The asking price for the 21,000-square-foot building and the 7.85-acre site at that time was $4,950,000.

The listing is advertised by realtor Robert Cascella at Coldwell Banker Commercial Scalzo Group in Bethel. Mr Cascella is a former first selectman of Newtown.

The listing stated the property has 450 feet frontage on Route 25. The 21,000-square-foot restaurant/banquet hall has an 15,000-additional-square-foot lower level. The potential pad site up to 40,000 square feet is serviced by city water.

The original building was constructed in 1973.