Living on
As I should have suspected from the number of people who've come to this site recently by searching for "Remiro Bresolin", he died on Monday night. I didn't know this when I popped into Scopa yesterday lunchtime to pick up some panini, and the staff there gave no indication either. Farewell, Cavaliere: I never knew you, but your influence on this city has touched many of us.Meanwhile, I've heard rumours that plans to reopen Il Casino are still going ahead, though not in the former Mayfair as I had heard earlier. In fact, it may return to the old building in Tory St, despite the site being sold to a developer with plans for apartments. The latest gossip is that the apartment building will use only part of the site, allowing most of the (currently gutted) original building to be retained and reborn as the new Il Casino. It remains to be seen whether the redevelopment is respectful of the old building, or a cheap exercise in blatant façadism, but if the rumours are true then it will be great to see Remiro's legacy live on in a building that holds so many memories.
posted by Tom @ 10:38 am
12 Comments:
sorry to hear about Bresolin - very sad.
but tom - i thnk your rumour sources are well off track... a developer only using part of the site? whatever next.... developers that actually care? a council that acts proactively? pigs that fly?
Well, the person I heard it from claims to have seen plans, so maybe there's something in it. The developer that bought the site is one of the better ones in town, and have even been known to employ decent architects in the past. My contact wasn't exactly impressed with the design, but if at least some of the original building can be retained it might be worth it.
aaah yes, the wonderful Globe Holdings, developers of such urban mastery as Knigges Ave "City Lodge", which seemed to sweep the awards in the 'crap building' and 'rubbishy balcony' categories... you trust these guys?
Up to a point, since they also did Summit and Croxley Mills, two of the best recent apartment developments to my eyes. They also did the Hub and Lofts, which while I'm not entirely convinced about them aesthetically, are a good place to live. Trinity's a bit blah, but the Waterfront Seatoun development looks really interesting (I should take a trip out there some time). Knigges Ave is a real anomaly in their portfolio, but if they're not aiming to build super-cheap student digs, then I'd have more faith in them than in 90% of the developers in town.
more gist to your rumour mill : a local celebrity architect with a penchant for fast cars, may possibly have something to do with the project....
We must be listening to the same rumour-mongers! I'm sure he must have spent enough at the Bresolin's resturants by now to almost own the place himself.
Oh not the Smart car merchant, the much older man with a perchant for much younger women (and buying you dinners)....
Common guys, Rumours are Rumours. Im not going to say who I am, but I know for certain that there is nothing happening at the moment. Their father has just passed away and I can assure you that they have enough on their plates with silly rumours being spread as it is. There has been talk about it, but it was a long time ago. Im sure if anything does come about this, it wont be for a couple of years.
Anon: fair enough, it does seem a bit unseemly to be speculating like this at the moment. My original thoughts on this stemmed from a DomPost article back in October, when Enzo was quoted as saying they wanted to reopen Il Casino somewhere "in the very near future". It's more recently that the speculation has returned to the old Il Casino site, based upon reports that plans have been seen which involved keeping the old building mostly intact.
I'll respect your statement that you know otherwise for certain, and leave it at that. But please don't think of the speculation as disrespectful: if anything, it's a mark of the high regard which Wellingtonians have for Remiro's contribution to our city, and a hope to see his legacy continue.
I think if they keep Scopa and Boulot going as well as they are, they are living on Remiro's legacy.
the site is already sold so no doubt something will happen quite soon... I think our older-fast-car-loose-woman friend is out of the picture and a more studly pac of architects involved....well so the rumour goes...
Well the loose women bit was pure embelishment on my part... It's one of my few regrets leaving Wellington that I never got to eat at Il Casino.
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