The smoke has dissipated and the gawkers have long since dispersed. But the effects of a recent fire that burned out a block of businesses in Pawtucket’s Fairlawn district is likely to be felt by neighboring merchants for some time to come.
“I’ve lost a lot of business,” said Chris Collins, manager of Fairlawn Wine Co. The business his grandfather started in 1936 was closed for four days after the Nov. 7 fire.
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“There was a lot of smoke damage and there was a lot of water damage that we had to take care of,” he said.
A barber shop and a restaurant sandwiched between Collins’ store and the shells of once successful businesses suffered even more and also shut down temporarily. Collins, who rents out the spaces next door, guessed they would remain closed for some time.
The early morning blaze engulfed and ultimately destroyed five businesses and four apartments at 561 Smithfield Ave. Firefighters determined the cause as an electrical fire inside Precision Plastics, a maker of countertop jewelry displays. The former Fairlawn Movie Theater, which also housed Theatre Tap AC, Grandes Restaurant, Robco Industrial and JR’s Shoes, has been razed. Now business owners and city officials are wondering what will fill the gap.
“I’d like to see something built there to generate business,” Collins said.
So would Pawtucket Mayor James E. Doyle.
“The saddest part of this is that it was such a viable business district,” Doyle said. “It has to affect surrounding businesses to a degree simply because” fewer people are trafficking in the area.
“In my wildest dreams, I’d like to see it all come back. Beautiful new buildings, a ribbon cutting, a ground breaking and the whole shootin’ match,” he said. “But I don’t know if that’s going to be realistic and if that’s going to happen.”
At this point, Bob DiFilippo, the building’s owner and proprietor of Precision Plastics, is focusing on having an income again, Doyle said. “His need is available space in the city to continue his business. We’re looking into that for him right now.”
DiFilippo’s “is not a business where he has to have it in Pawtucket,” Doyle said. “But he’d rather stay in Pawtucket right now.” Doyle, too, would like to keep all the destroyed businesses on the city’s tax rolls. However, he said “I don’t know how much we could do for them.”
DiFilippo could not be reached for comment.
The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation has also offered the devastated businesses assistance in the form of five- to seven-year loans for up to $150,000, according to an EDC spokesperson. A meeting between the parties was expected to happen last week.
Pawtucket native David Fisher, a sales person at Calcutt True Value Hardware Store, across the street from the cordoned off block, said he hadn’t noticed an ebb in business. The loss he felt was more personal.
“I spent half my life there cleaning up at the (former) theater” and then “at Grandes’ as a dish washer after school. I think I worked my way up to short order cook,” he said the day demolition began. “It’s gonna be weird when they’re gone.”
