By MARK SILBERSTEIN
Fire last Thursday night, considered to be of a suspicious
origin, ravaged the former ‘Big House’ at Rocky Point, a building
that was used to house seasonal employees when the amusement
landmark was still open.
Warwick Fire Department Chief John “Jack” Chartier said that
arrangements had been made to bring in a crane to help sift
through the debris to search for an origin and exact cause. He
added that the structure had no working utilities.
No one was injured battling the fire Chartier described as the
equivalent of a three-alarm blaze. Aggressive firefighting, he
said, helped protect another vacant building just 25-feet away -
the old Shore Dinner Hall.
Throughout the day Friday firefighters using a dog trained to
find bodies pulled away charred timbers with the help of a crane
in a corner of the gutted building. There had been reports of a
girl being seen in the area and it was feared she might have been
caught in the fire. By the afternoon crews had gotten to the
source of the dog’s attention – a pile of mattresses that
apparently still had the scent of humans.
This morning, Congressman James Langevin (D-RI) is scheduled to
hold a press conference in front of the charred remains of the Big
House, joined by the Small Business Administration’s acting
regional administrator Mark Hayward, and the new owner of the
Rocky Point property, which has been in government receivership
for the past two years.
Hayward said that he was told that a boater spotted flames
shooting 20 to 30 feet in the air and was the first to contact
authorities about the fire. Admitting that security has only been
employed on occasion at the long abandoned Rocky Point, Hayward
said that authorized personnel would be keeping a closer eye on
things from now on. The fire and its column of black smoke could
be easily seen from Barrington, Bristol and points up and down
Narragansett Bay.
Langevin’s office hedged on releasing extensive details in
advance of his press conference, but indicated that the
Congressman and others would be discussing federal funding that is
in place to help developers turn the property around. Chartier
last week said that the SBA and Mayor Scott Avedisian have been
discussing plans for the demolition of the remaining midway at
Rocky Point, an effort that would be made to eliminate the risk
for other buildings to become targets of arson. But Hayward said
that he would not have any comment on that subject until a
separate announcement he said was in the works for tomorrow.
Hayward said that it’s important for the SBA to help transition
the property back to a useful purpose that would place it back on
the city’s tax rolls. Vanderbilt Capital, LLC of South Carolina
earlier this year was the high bidder for the 124-acre property at
$25 million. A purchase and sales agreement has yet to be approved
by the Federal District Court.
According to court documents, Vanderbilt is affiliated with
Toll Brothers, a publicly traded company and one of the country’s
largest developers of luxury housing. Vanderbilt is considering a
proposal to build a maximum of 350 units of luxury housing on the
waterfront site.
The SBA has managed the future of Rocky Point and other
properties as a receiver for Moneta [Capital], Hayward said.
They hope to recover an undisclosed amount from Moneta and its
principal, Arnold Kilberg, for loans made on the park and other
failed ventures including one in the Virgin Islands. Hayward said
the $25 million Vanderbilt bid for the land is only a portion of
what the SBA loaned Moneta.
Avedisian, in a prepared statement, called the fire at Rocky
Point “unfortunate,” but credited the fire department for their
quick action to contain the blaze while preventing it from
spreading to adjacent buildings.
“I have been in frequent contact with our public safety
officials, as well as representatives from the SBA regarding this
situation,” the mayor said. “My office will continue to assist in
whatever way necessary as the investigation into the cause of the
fire continues.”
