Melissa Bailey Photo
Nordstrom’s never made it. A decade later, a two-story nightclub and gelato factory are bringing jobs and bustle to Long Wharf’s food terminal instead.
Giuliana Maravalle (pictured with scissors) has moved two businesses, Gelato Giuliana and a double-decker bar that includes Keys to the City, into 240 Sargent Dr.. City officials held a ribbon cutting Wednesday to mark the turnaround of a building at Long Wharf’s food terminal that had been vacant for several years. (Pictured with Maravalle, from left, are Damian Cashman, co-owner of the bar, Economic Development Administrator Kelly Murphy, and Mayor John DeStefano.)
Keys to the City, a dueling piano bar that relocated from downtown, opened May 20 at its new space in an abandoned warehouse. Upstairs, the bar’s four owners created a second lounge and live music space. It’s called Sargent Peppers, in honor of the street, the eponymous manufacturing company, as well as the legendary Beatles album.
Maravalle relocated her gelato factory from Wallingford to the back of the Long Wharf warehouse. Her 20-person workforce, including Laura Ledesma (pictured), have been churning out 2,000 pounds of Italian ice cream every day, and delivering them to 500 locations, including Whole Foods and Stew Leonards supermarkets, she said.
Click here for a story on her decision to move to Long Wharf.
Before cutting the ceremonial ribbon, Mayor John DeStefano reflected on the path the food terminal has taken.
“Remember the mall?” he asked with a grin.
DeStefano was referring to his plan to open a suburban-style mega-mall called the Galleria at Long Wharf in 2001. The $500 million mall was supposed to have 150 stores, including the upscale department store, Nordstrom. Opponents organized to kill the plan, which they characterized as a corporate welfare-bloated traffic and environmental nightmare that would kill downtown shops.
At the time, DeStefano recalled, there were “doubts about the future of Long Wharf.” Would the historic use — small-scale food production, right near a highway for easy transportation — become out of date?
Wednesday, DeStefano said the answer is no.
“This is going to remain a food terminal,” he said. He spoke on the new front patio for Keys to the City. The patio opens to a terminal that includes meat-packing businesses and restaurants.
It joins Ikea down the block, which came to New Haven (without tax breaks) in the wake of the Galleria’s collapse
The building the club and gelateria moved into was vacant for several years, according to city officials. It briefly served as the campaign headquarters for Jim Newton, who unsuccessfully challenged Mayor DeStefano in 2007.
The gelato factory will employ 20 people; the clubs will employ 60. The gelato factory won’t offer gelato on-site: click here for a list of locations where you can buy it.
On Wednesday, Maravalle made an exception. She rolled out a cart of single-portion gelato cups for the group of visitors, which included seven city officials.
The rehab was made possible in part by a $30,000 city grant for the facade.
On the first floor, two dueling pianos sat by a newly installed bar, and two TVs showing the World Cup. As of now, the bar is open only Thursday to Saturday, starting at 5 p.m., according to Damian Cashman. He and Maravalle are two of four owners of the joint nightclubs. Most of their business comes from bachelorette parties, he said: Ladies outnumber men by a ratio of 5 to 1.
Upstairs, smokers can take refuge on an open-air balcony. The building, tucked away between train tracks, IKEA and the Long Wharf Theatre, is off the beaten path: To get there at night, one has to weave through the dark meatpacking buildings.
The out-of-the-way location has its benefits, however: With few neighbors in sight, “you can turn up the music a bit,” Cashman said. (Noise from the club had caused complaints downtown.) And there’s tons of free parking — 50 spots — which is unheard of for any downtown bar.
When renovating the building, Cashman said, he used all recycled materials: The wood on the balcony was rescued from a barn in Oxford. In the middle of the dance floor, there’s a tree. Both clubs have full restaurants and bars.
In homage to Sgt. Pepper, Cashman (pictured) took a Sawzall to a VW bus, repainted it, and turned it into a DJ stand for dance parties.
Cashman called the design “shabby-chic.”
“The last thing we wanted to do was hide the fact that this was an abandoned warehouse,” he said.
This Friday, Cashman and co. are hosting a fundraiser to rescue the city’s July 4 fireworks show. The money will go toward the city’s fireworks show, which was downsized and moved to East Rock Park amid a budget crisis. A $25 entrance fee buys a bite to eat, open bar from 5 to 9 p.m., and a chance to see a dark corner of the food terminal come to life.