Fire destroys Compounce ride - Southington Library and Museum

The Observer, Thursday, Auflust 31, 1989
Thirtee, girls represenl the town ot Apple Harvest...
(continued rom p e 1) She is a member of The Chronicle
staff and participated in Laurel Girls"
olved with your school and commune- State..
ty, be yourself during the interviews She said this experience would
and enjoy yourself. But most tmpor- "show me how to communicate and
tanfly remember that what you give is interact with people of all ages. I feel
what you will receive." that representing Southington will
Jennifer Lapenta. 17, said, "I nev- help me understand the community
er really did anything Just for the fun more and be more involved in what
of it and it was really a spur of the Southington has to offer"
moment thing. I really thought it She said that she advises future
would be ftmI" Lapenta's main inter- applicants to "never be afraid of ttylng
eats are swlmn ng and diving She is for something that you really want,
captain of the Southington High because sometimes things do go your
School girrs swim team. way."
Jiltann Marenholtz. 18, said, "It Shannon Roper, 17. is a member
has always been a dream of mine to of the Southington High School color
become one I think it would be great guard She likes writing. Painting,
to represent the town of Southington." sketching, and reading. She too par-
Marenholtz is a gymnast and diver tlcipated in Laurel Girls' State.
for Southington High School, Krissa Soboleski, 17, "wanted to
Carrie Plawecki, 16. applied "be- become more involved in the commucause
I want to support my town. I nity"
have always wanted to be a hostess She enjoys playing the saxophone
since I was a little glrl." in stage band. She is a section editor
Plawecki's biggest interest is shar- of The Chronicle, a member of the Nahag
friendships. She also admitted she tional Honor Society, varsity soccer
loves shopping at the mall. and S.A.D.D
Sabena Ramaswamy said being a Betty Yoon said her experience as
hostess "wquld be an interesting as hostess has confirmed her belief that
well as beneficial experience." the other girls are not concerned
She is active in track and field about who is selected queen of the
hockey, a member of Students Against event. "We are all happy to be
Drunk Driving, Key Club, Spanish hostesses. We are having such a great
Club, and German Club. time." she said.
Yoon, 16, plays piano and volley- Committee members, friends, rela- hostesses in this *kick eli activity to
ball. She is a member of the Key Club, fives and members of the community open the 1989 Southlngton Apple
vice-president of student council and may attend the social and support the Harvest.
is returning from a month in Spain.
Her career goal is a international
relations.
She likes the idea of the diversity Bogus bonds burn town...
of representatives. "This idea of host- .
ess does not depend upon personality. (continued f om l ge I] proved the work. However, Tranqufllo
All you need is enthusiasm, a love of said Tuesday that the boiler at Cen-
Southington and sincerity." she said. something was wrong." tral Elementary School was not draw-
Joann Nyerick. advisor confirmed He said normally performance ing fuel properly from the tank in-
Yoon's conclusion, bonds, which are issued by surety or stalled there.
"There are misconceptions. You insurance companies, bear the slgna- The town has paid Jetline
don't have to be vivacious and outgo- ture of a corporate officer. In addltion. $128,000 of the $187,500 contract.
eng.- she said. they carry an attached form granting Weichsel said the town would
The girls' written response to how power of attorney to that officer, withhold payment of the remainder
to effectively work in a group weighed "And that wasn't on thls either," until it is certain the subcontractors
heavy in the selection process. Kelley said. "I guess (our officials] Just and suppliers axe being paid.
This past weekend the girls at- didn't pick that up." %Vhat we're worried about now,"
tended the Southlngton Grange Falr Kelley said, "is that there are more
and the Chester Fair Weichsel said this was the first bills out there that haven't been
They will make appearances at the time the town had ever been victim- paid."
Big E in West Spnngfield, Ma. the ized by bogus bonds. Even though the town is retaining
Shelton Cider Day. the Bristol Mum "Normally, we accept them at face about $60,000, it may be responsible
Parade and the Naugatuck Valley value," he said. unless they are for for unpaid bills that exceed that
Mall. values approaching a mlIllon dollars, amount. Kelley noted that one bill for
At those times, they greet people Wcichsel said the town engineer $12,019 arrlved Just last week.
and pass out information about the deals with the bonds *and has for "It will take a while before it's all
Apple Harvest Festival. many years without incident. There' sorted out," said Welchsel, who mini-
The Queen of the Court will be Be- have been a thousand-and-one Jobs mlzed the incident's impact on the
lected September 23 at the Apple Her- that have gone right."
vest Social to be held at the Elks He also acknowledged that he had "It's just irritating more than any-
Club. signed off on this bond. thing," he said, and he characterized
Fortunately for Southlngton, Jet- "the blow to hhe town's ttnances as a
Twelve scr,=.en movie house dead issue.,,
line has completed most of the work it small bump on the face."
contracted to do. To prevent being victimized in the
"In our case. the physical work, future, Weichsel said the town attorwe
think, is OK," Weichsel said. ney would be present at the signing of
He said the fire department, which the performance bonds and in some
Berlin, this theater thing wasn't a big deal. The property is in a business zone which allows theaters They'll be breaking is the local agency authorized to in- cases will verify them with the surety
ground as soon as possible."
Following the withdrawal of the Southington application. National Amusements
pursued a behind-the-scenes public relations maneuver to enlist support
for the project. Thomas Mendela of Loper Street said he garnered 1,400
signatures expressing favor for the movie house, but problems still remained.
spect the safety of fuel tanks, has ap- companies.
"National Amusements had taken a responsible approach. They were go-
Ing to add lanes to the 1-84 off-rsml And traffic lights were going to be synchronized,"
Bald Mendela.
Mendela said he blames Lake Compounce Festival Paxk for National
Amusements inability to gain support for the project - both locally and on
the state level.
"The theater people couldn't act until Compounce responsibly handled the
traffic problem they were causing." Mendela said. "That never happened
Consequently. what Southington has for entertainment is heavy metal rock
music, or out-of-town movies."
Robert Cusano. director of future development at Compounce. said that
the responsibility for any traffic problems begins and ends with the state and
the Town of Southington. The state. Cussno said. has indicated that the present
West Street condition, with some improvements already agreed to by
Compounce, will handle the traffic volume.
"Compounee is not holding up anything." Cusano said. "The planning and zoning
commission is saying that nothing else can be built on West Street."
However, Cusano, who served for eight years on the town's PZC, said that
Southlngton should more actively seek development
"It's a shame that Southington lost its chance to get the movie theater,"
Cusano said. *It would have generated some good tax revenue. The town Just
didn't work with National Amusements to find a more snitable location."
With multi-screen movie theaters in Bristol and Meriden, and with the
planned 12-screen movie house in Berfin. it remains to be seen whether Natlonal
Amusements will continue to show interest in Southlngton.
The Observer
Fire destrol s Compounce fide.,,
grounds crew was busy cleaning the area by Wednesday alternoon. Blanco
ald. in preparation for the planned opening of the park Thursday at 5 p.m..
"Fortunately we were not scheduled to open Wednesday," said Blanco,
"but we will open on time Thursday."
As of Wednesday al ernoon damage to the three midway building had not
been assessed. Blanco said that because Wednesday was a planned closed day,
park department heads were not on hand to assist in damage estimates.
"We'll be getting a final damage estimate soon," said Blanco. "A power switch-
Ing staUon was damaged, so we'll have to include that in our estimate."
*Certainly, there will be no rebuilding this season." BIanco said. "There will
definitely be something put back there, but there is nothing planned right now."
Park officials must now determine how to handle the end of the season.
According to Blanco. Compounce
officials may decide
to close the park ear-
I , instead of its scheduled
date of Oct. I.
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