WALLINGFORD — Work has begun to demolish a vacant downtown building.

The building at 28 Quinnipiac St., formerly T-Bonz Bar and Grill, will be razed to create a parking lot, co-owner Michael Pullano said this week.

The owners purchased the building along with the adjacent 9 South Colony Road building, which was renovated and is now home to Berkshire Hathaway realty. They had hoped to renovate both buildings for commercial use, Pullano said, but 28 Quinnipiac St. was in worse condition and contained asbestos. 

Pullano said the building was “an eyesore for quite a few years” and five years after it became vacant they decided to demolish it.

“We, of course, wanted to renovate the building but in the current state ...The cost of renovating wasn’t practical,” Pullano said.

Replacing the building with a parking lot will address a shortage of parking at the adjacent plaza, Pullano said.

The space will be available for parking after demolition, but might not be paved until the spring, depending on weather conditions.

“With the lack of parking it wasn’t fair to residents to put in another restaurant there,” Pullano said. “It was a difficult decision to lose potential retail space.”

Economic Development Commission Chairman Joe Mirra said he has rarely seen the building rented for a long period. Mirra said the decision to demolish the building to add parking could enhance business in the area.

“I never like to see a building come down but in that particular case it might be an asset because they’re short on spaces,” Mirra said. “I think they are solving two problems.”

jroman@record-journal.com
203-317-2420