Council approves sale of alcohol at Rockwell Theater

By David Fortier

The city council passed a revision to an ordinance allowing the sale and consumption of alcohol for non-school related performances at The Rockwell Theater at the Bristol Arts and Innovation Magnet School at its meeting Tuesday.

The next step as described by Mayor Jeffrey Caggiano and Ordinance Committee chair Sebastian Panioto would be for the Board of Education and Bristol Public Schools superintendent Dr. Catherine Carbone to address the concerns of the Board of Education, which appears to be a sticking point.

“This is really a trigger for the Board of Education to have that full discussion and really consider if we make these changes, how does that affect everything in the picture, and those are important questions to ask and really important considerations to take up,” Panioto said.

“I don’t think it should be a foregone conclusion that this will pass without any second thought,” Panioto added. “There are important considerations and policies to unpack.”

The mayor did say he took full responsibility for slow walking the decision.

From the beginning, he said, that he had assured Carbone and the Board of Education that they would have time to address their concerns.

“I promised Dr. Dietter and Dr. Carbone that we were not going to push this until they were ready,” he said. “They were talking with their legal counsel. I know there’s probably some concern here whether they can actually effectuate the change.”

Council member Susan Tyler, the former chair of the Ordinance Committee, brought up the quickness with which the ordinance was raised, saying that it did not give constituents an opportunity to fully grasp the issue.

“There’s still a lot of misinformation out there, and I think it’s our job to be transparent and to take a little bit of time and make sure that our community understands,” she said.

“This came up for the very first time in Ordinance in December,” she said, “and a public hearing on Jan. 2,” when a lot of people were getting through the holidays and unaware of the suggested change.

“And now we are here today. I do support moving forward and making this change for the Board of Education to be able to discuss policy,” she said, “but I just wanted to on the record that I think we should have done a better job getting the information to out to the public.”

She said she had done several deep dives through state statutes and consulted with Corporation Counsel and found that there is no statute prohibiting the sale of alcohol on school grounds.

In addition, she said she struggled with why the city had to approve the sale before the Board of Education debated the issue and decide on their policies and then come to the city council to discuss an ordinance.

Thibeault responded to Tyler’s comments by pointing out that there is a long history of discussions about concessions, both as part of the deliberations of the original task force charged with reclaiming the theater as well as the Memorial Boulevard School Building Committee about the concessions area and how to secure the premises for the sale of alcohol.

In addition, she recounted having brought up the issue as early as June 2023 at an Ordinance Committee meeting when Tyler was chair.

“So it hasn’t been in a vacuum, and it’s not sudden,” she said.

Thibeault did take time to read an email she received from the owners of Main Street Pint and Plate, among other Bristol restaurants. J.R. and Leanne Rusgrove wrote in favor of allowing alcohol, stating and that rather than harming their business, the sale of alcohol on the premises would help encourage and add to their bottom line.

Once again those in favor of revising the ordinance dominated public participation.

Mikey Goldwasser, a member of many city boards as well as the Mayor’s Task Force and committee that created the All-Heart branding, said that downtown development is in full swing and all of the pieces are coming together.

Andrea Adams, top left, clockwise, Deb Schur and Mikey Goldwasser speak in favor of the sale of alcohol at The Rockwell Theater. | David Fortier

“The theater is one of those pieces,” he said, and adding that he advocated the sale of alcohol outside of school events, and taking into consideration, beyond Bristol, the theater faces competition from any number of venues that do offer alcohol.

“All of those venues allow concessions and that includes alcohol that helps them get bigger acts,” he said.

Anyone coming to downtown Bristol would be interested in entertainment, before a show grabbing dinner, and afterwards enjoying a nightcap.

“And so when I think in terms of an overall experience,” he said, “and this is just one part.”

Deb Schur, active in theater, particularly as director of the Annual Holiday Showcase of Stars and a member of the Memorial Boulervard Task Force, said, “I think this could be your crowning glory, shall we say?”

“It’s the gift that needs the bow on top. All that’s left for you to do is to vote affirmatively on this one. Please do not let this slip away.”

City Arts and Culture Commission member and longtime advocate for the theater Andrea Adams provided background research on the benefits of theater and a model in the Palace Theater, which also abuts a magnet school in Waterbury.

“The Waterbury Palace is considered an economic catalyst,” she said. “They work closely with area restaurants on promotion dinner and show packages, selling restaurant gift certificates at the box office, sending emails out to the Palace patron base.”

The synergy has resulted in a 30-percent increase in dining activity on show nights and a vibrant post-theater dinner and bar scene,” she said.

Walter Lewandoski, chair of the City Arts and Culture Commission, said “This is like a built-in economic development engine.”

“We don’t want to be just a little hole-in-the-wall theater. We want to be a destination for Connecticut, a destination for New England. Everyone who’s been to the theater raves about it. We’re just trying to upgrade little by little, taking one step at a time and we think this will be the next step that will get us closer to the top.”

The council ended up passing the ordinance revision unanimously.

In other business, the council approved a second civil engineer position with the intention of promoting civil engineers, upon attaining professional licensing, to assistant city engineers, since it has been difficult to fill the later position, said council member Cheryl Thibeault, who chairs the Salary Committee.

“After great discussion, and also looking at the attempts of Public Works to try to fill the other position, we thought this was a good alternative,” Thibeault said.

In other business, the council awarded a contract for streetscape improvements along North Main Street from School Street to Center Street for the amount of $2,175,251.50 to Martin Laviero Contractor, Inc., awarded a contract for landfill erosion repairs for the amount of S944,285,285 to Yield Industries, LLC, and approved a contract with Targeted Endurance for the installation of traffic signals at Sheila Court for the amount of $500,000.

The council conducted an executive session where they discussed Ann Marie Barros vs. City of Bristol.

Under the consent calendar, the council placed on file the New Hire Report for the previous month and approved both tax refunds through Dec. 27, 2023, and a change order for Sav-Mor Cooling & Heating, Inc., totaling $170,996.36 for HVAC work at Greene-Hills.

An increase for the schematic design estimate for Northeast Middle School by D’Amato+Downes Joint Venture for the amount of $13,298,611 bringing the total estimate to $102,367,574 from the original estimate of $89,068,963, originally included on a previous agenda did not make the revised one for this meeting.