Behind the Scenes - Fricano Event Cnter Opens in the Hartshorn Centre
Ted Fricano has been a part of the downtown Muskegon business community since 2002 when he opened Fricano's Muskegon Lake in the Hartshorn Centre. Last year he purchased the Hartshorn Centre and opened an event center on the same level as his restaurant. We caught up with Ted Fricano so he could tell us about his new event center and all the other things he has going in the Hartshorn Center.
MS: Thank you for meeting with me. Could you please describe what the Fricano Event Center is?
TF: It’s another business venture within Hartshorn Centre. It’s a banquet facility that can seat 500, or a crowd of 800.
MS: Could you please tell me the history of this building?
TF: It was built in the late 1800s as the Hartshorn Curtain Roller Factory. The factory operated until the early 1980s. Later in the 1980s it became the short-lived Lumbertown Mall. In the 1990s it was Waterfront Centre. In 2001, George Bailey and John Bultema purchased the building and renamed it the Hartshorn Centre. Fricano’s Muskegon Lake opened here in 2002. In early 2009, I bought the entire building. MS: What was the space used for before you created the Event Center?
TF: In the 1990s it was a haphazard banquet room. A call center occupied the space from 2002 to 2007.
MS: What gave you the idea for the Fricano Event Center?
TF: I was interviewed by the Muskegon Chronicle after buying the building. They asked about the plans for the empty call center. I told them that if I couldn’t find another call center to take the space I’d put in a banquet center. Within a week of the article being published I received five phone calls at home from people wanting to know when the banquet center would be ready. By the time the Fricano Event Center was finished we had received over 200 inquiries about it.
MS: What types of events have you hosted? What types can you host?
TF: We’ve had wedding receptions, Chamber events, beer expos, Christmas parties, and will host an Irish Fest the weekend before St. Patrick’s Day.
We can host anything. We can host conventions. We are working with the Holiday Inn to provide lodging while we provide convention space. We are also working with the Convention & Visitors Bureau. Another event that we will be starting in the space is a dinner theater.
MS: Why invest in downtown Muskegon?
TF: I built the restaurant here because the building had the gift of nostalgia. Furthermore, two men, George Bailey and John Bultema, were very gracious with the lease terms here. They guided us to success.
I bought the building to protect the restaurant and provide for my family.
MS: So I hear your bar comes from somewhere else?
TF: Yes! The bar comes from Art Smith’s bar in Muskegon Heights. The bar is 80-90 years old and we restored it here.
MS: You bought Hartshorn Centre last year. What are some of the improvements you’ve done to the building?
TF: Since purchasing the building in 2009 I have renovated 20,000 sq ft, or one-third of the entire building. I’m also in the process of completing renovations on an additional 8,000 sq ft of space on the third floor. A new HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) system has been installed. Also, there is new flooring and paint in many parts of the building.
MS: I also understand you’ve started a Jazz Night at Fricano’s. Tell me about that.
TF: Jazz Night is a new event that takes place every Thursday night in the Stewart Hartshorn Suite. Jazz Night features the Shea/Lawrence/Hartman Trio.
The Stewart Hartshorn Suite is another new addition to the building. It is a 75-seat private dining room created in the space of an old storeroom.
MS: Any future plans you’d like to share?
TF: We have an enormous number of events coming to the Event Center. We already have 25 of the Saturdays in 2010 committed!
Besides the Event Center, the third floor of Hartshorn Centre is also undergoing renovations. The floor will have office space for lease from 300 to 6,000 sq ft. The floor will have a 1930s look that revisits a time when Muskegon was more prosperous.
MS: Thank you for your time!
Labels: Downtown Muskegon E-News
posted by Dan & Sarah @ 12:42 PM
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