A section of sidewalk in front of a popular Ansonia restaurant was closed Monday and Tuesday because officials were concerned about debris falling from the building above it.
Caution tape had blocked off access in front of Crave, at 102 Main St., since Monday, when it was closed for Memorial Day.
The restaurant was able to open on time Tuesday, according to the building’s owner, Walter Kendzierski.
The city closed the sidewalk in front of the restaurant after receiving complaints about the building over the weekend, said Sheila O’Malley, the city’s grant writer and economic development director.
“The frame is coming apart on the windows,” O’Malley said. “We were afraid the pane would slide down and hit somebody on the ground.”
The problematic section is not part of the restaurant. It’s separate, vacant space above the restaurant.
On Tuesday morning Kendzierski and Mayor David Cassetti met on Main Street to try to figure out a solution.
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The quick fix — remove the glass and board up the windows while figuring out a permanent solution.
“The windows are being boarded because it is a safety hazard,” John Marini, the city’s corporation counsel, said. “He’s going to be cited for a violation with an order to remediate, and it’ll be blighted as well, unfortunately. It is a safety hazard.”
Marini said Kendzierski could apply for a no-interest loan up to $2,000 from the city’s Economic Development Commission to patch up the building’s facade.
Kendzierski, who has owned the building since 1983, said he had just wished somebody from the city had reached out to him before closing the sidewalk.
“I just found out this morning,” Kendzierski said. “No one ever called me, nothing.”
“The glass has been like this for 40 years,” he said. “Nothing has changed.”
The building originally operated as an opera house in the late 1800s. Its upper floors are used for storage, Kendzierski said.
