Dear editor:

In regards to Mr. Michael Nicastro’s article entitled “Train Wreck Redo” on Feb. 6, in The Bristol Edition, it is apparent that his opinion about the Wheeler Clinic situation is very clear. He believes that the council made a mistake voting against it, but then after the review of the plan he thought better of the vote in favor of it. He is entitled to his opinion.

As the article goes on, however, another local business, The Bristol Sports Armory, is discussed. Mr. Nicastro said, “Additionally, the attempt to reuse the former Armory while a noble effort has been challenging and has required loans from the city and tax abatements. They don’t have the needed capital. Such would be the case with a similar plan for Centre Square. Private Equity is not lining up to pour in the millions needed for such facilities and no bank will issue debt to an organization lacking liquidity and no way of paying back the debt. A reality that our highly qualified ECD commissioners understand and thus has put forth a viable option in the Wheeler project.”

As part owner of said business my first question to Mr. Nicastro is, have you ever even entered the building on 61 Center St.?

Secondly, do you have any information as to our finances and what we fiscally could be responsible for or are you simply a non sports fan who would not be in support of such a facility as you mentioned?

Thirdly, what right do you have to comment on a business when you have absolutely no idea what that business is all about?

You also mentioned we required loans from the city? What loans? I am wondering what you are referring to? Are you referring to the Bristol Startup Grant that we were awarded or something else? The Startup Grant is a program that was utilized to assist with local businesses to get started in town. We applied, we were interviewed and we presented a business model/plan to the committee and were notified later that our plan was solid. We were awarded the grant like several other Bristol businesses in 2019 and here we are.

That grant was a very small piece of our initial investment. The grant was also awarded to another local business on the very same day we received ours. That business has since folded, but unlike Mr. Nicastro, I will not mention the other business that received the Startup Grant. Maybe Mr. Nicastro should take more interest to find out why that business is closed in only 2 short years instead of spreading rumors about our business struggling.

By no means are we struggling and in fact we are bursting and at times turning away programs because we don’t have the time or space available. You also stated, Mr. Nicastro, that we don’t have enough capital. Please tell me where you got that information. How do you know if we do or don’t? Furthermore, you are now speaking on behalf of the banks too. Again I ask, how do you know what a bank would do for us? As far as I know you have never inquired about our finances or bank information, nor should you unless you have some sort of interest in our business.

Our business at this point is thriving, thanks to the local community and the amount of programs we offer to our local families. We have 12 local businesses that have advertising banners in our space. Not to mention the organizations outside of our town that are using our facility for their sports teams as well.

We held a 24-team high school summer/fall league with teams from all over the state. The conversation about downtown has always been about bringing people from out of town to Bristol. We are doing that exact thing, bringing people from out of town (Burlington, Southington, Canton, Avon, Waterbury just to name a few). Are there any new restaurants to attract them? Are there any grocery stores downtown for out of towners to use as you say? Is there anything to keep those out of towners here? The answers to all of those questions are no, unless you consider Park Side on North Main a ”new” restaurant.

We have partnered with the Boys and Girls Club on many occasions to run basketball tournaments for several teams, and oh, by the way many of the teams are from out of town.

We have also been able to hold many other events, outdoor concerts, birthday parties, vacation camps, and boxing events to come in March and even a military honors ceremony for a local veteran. Our programs have included baseball, basketball, lacrosse, golf, softball clinics, private training lessons, strength and conditioning programs, and football camps hosted by out of town coaches.

We have worked with local little leagues and leagues from surrounding towns as well. We also have had people like Carmelo Anthony and Ryan Gomes, both NBA superstars visit our facility for basketball games. Matt Geary, St. Paul alum and current basketball player at UConn has held basketball camps for our youth.

As part of our business we also house the Bell City Barnstormer baseball organization out of the Armory. We provide a travel baseball organization that is equivalent to all surrounding towns programs and is provided at a much lower cost per player. Some of the kids in the program also are from surrounding towns.

As a local business owner I am offended by the comments that Mr. Nicastro has made about our business. He has absolutely no information or data to support his accusations about our business, at least not from his own research, and he has no information to back up any claim he has made. Please feel free to come in and see the programs we offer and the amount of young athletes that take part in those programs.

Chris D’Amato
Co-Owner, Bristol Sports Armory

Chris D’Amato is an educator and coach in the Bristol School System. He is co-owner of the Bristol Sports Armory.

Editor’s note: Opposing viewpoints are welcome. Please submit to editor@bristoledition.org.