Less than a year after an arsonist set the Meriden, Conn., club’s restaurant on fire, the Italian eatery is reopening following an extensive renovation that rebuilt the support beams and roof, as well as heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and fire alarm systems.
Violi’s Restaurant at Hunter Golf Club in Meriden, Conn., is set to reopen today, less than a year after a fire caused extensive damage, the Meriden-based Record-Journal reported.
The Italian restaurant, billed as “one of the nicest restaurants in Meriden,” by Fire Marshal Steve Trella, will host a soft opening this weekend, starting with lunch today, the Record-Journal reported.
“I’m thrilled with the fact that they’re able to open,” said Golf Course Commission Chairman Patsy Papandrea. “It’s been a long process, needless to say, and it’s still not 100 percent done, but we put an awful lot of effort into this project.”
The building was damaged by a June 3, 2014 fire that Trella determined to be arson. Surveillance video from just before the 3 a.m. fire shows a man wearing a baseball-style hat and glasses seen dumping an accelerant on the city-owned building and igniting it. Trella said that he hadn’t been informed of any new information from the police investigation, the Record-Journal reported.
“The building needed extensive renovation, since the fire damage was more structural,” City Economic Development Director Juliet Burdelski said. “It looks very nice, very fresh now, and I know the owners are eager to get back open for business. Residents and golfers will have a nice Meriden restaurant back; it’s all good news.”
Restaurant owners declined to comment Wednesday. Papandrea said there was a slight drop-off in golfers at the end of last season, though it was buffered by opening a smaller snack stand at the base of the restaurant, the Record-Journal reported.
“We have a number of new people already coming to the golf course this year, and we’re expecting that to continue,” Papandrea said.
Trella said getting the restaurant back open so quickly was no small feat, the Record-Journal reported.
“The problem with the fire was not that it was a big fire, but the problem was the way the place was constructed, from a fire perspective,” he said. “It’s a beautiful building, no matter where you’re sitting, you’ll have a view of the golf course pretty much.”
The hexagonal building serves as a clubhouse and restaurant for Hunter Golf Course. It takes “an awful lot of (engineering) work” to uphold the unique shape of the building and roof, Trella said. “The fire got into the attic, which is where the trusses, and the beams, and the supports are. So basically you had to rebuild the supports, and there’s an awful lot involved in that.”
City officials estimated that three-quarters of the support beams were damaged in the fire and needed to be replaced, along with a portion of the roof. The heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning units, as well as some of the electrical units, also needed to be replaced, the Record-Journal reported.
In November, City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior estimated that the work would cost more than $1 million. Kendzior couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Other updates, including a significant change to the building’s fire alarm system, were also installed. Trella said the building originally contained a fire alarm system that met the fire code, but only rang inside the building, the Record-Journal reported.
“So in other words, it would get you out, but nobody else knows it’s happening.”
The updated alarm system includes a “gamewell system,” which alerts the fire houses in the city at the same time the interior alarms sound, the Record-Journal reported.
“The minute those alarms go off, there’s not even a time delay, it’s also going off on all five fire houses,” he said.
There is still some exterior work to be done on the building, including painting and staining wooden beam overhangs, Papandrea said. Once that’s complete, the restaurant will hold a grand opening as well, the Record-Journal reported.
Burdelski said Violi’s menu hasn’t changed, however. “They’re just doing what they do: nice, traditional Italian food,” she said.
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