Board of Aldermen 2-06-2020 Page 15
So | hope that you will all think long and hard on this, | know it seems like it is being secretive and you’ve all
heard the whole concept. This wonderful consultant that we’ve hired is a pretty smart cookie and | respect her
opinion, | really respect her opinion. | know it feels, it is kind of tough to vote on something and not know, but
understand that it is going well. We are doing well, I’m not faking it to make it; this is really the truth. I’m pretty
proud to be a part of it and | hope you will all be proud to be a part of it because it is going to bring us to the
next level as a City and let’s all do this together. | think it’s something that we owe it to ourselves. So thank
you very much for indulging me.
Alfred Vane Good evening my name is Alfred Vane and the song is about me, most people don’t get that joke.
I’m from Manchester, New Hampshire actually but | do have some ties here in Nashua. | own five restaurants,
one in Concord, New Hampshire; one in Manchester, New Hampshire; two in Nashua, New Hampshire.
CodeX Bar for one and | am part owner of Light Center. The Mayor spoke very positively about the arts center
that are happening around the state that | am very familiar with. Concord has Capital Arts Center which when |
first came to Concord, Concord Arts Center was just starting and it was, the momentum of the City was
growing. We then got the Colonial Phenix Hall in Downtown Concord, just making a true comeback. | don’t
know if any of you know who Mark Ciborowski is, he is really pushing to re-create Phenix Hall and there is a lot
of momentum behind that. My restaurant Cheddar & Rye is literally on the same block as the Palace Theater
and we get so much business and so many people coming to the Palace Theater coming to the downtown area
to just spend money and to have that entertainment and be a part of downtown.
Nashua and Concord, at Codex it is kind of weird kind of thing because | never expected it to be as successful
as itis. It is the most successful restaurant that | have without spending a penny on advertising. We do it with
word of mouth and we have people coming to CodeX as a destination place; we have been named a Best Craft
Cocktail Bar in the State of NH, 4 or 5 years running. We are very proud of it, my team is very proud of it.
Because of that word of mouth, one of the things | always ask and the bartenders always talk about at the end
of the night is “how did people find out about us”. Day one, when we first started Code X, we sat there for the
first hour, again not a penny on advertisement, first hour went by maybe two customers and | was thinking, “Oh
great, this was not a good idea’ and then all of a sudden 6:30 hit and we had a line out the door. On most
summer nights in Nashua as all business owners know in Nashua, New Hampshire; most summer nights are
the difficult nights because Nashua unfortunately isn’t quite the tourist destination that we’d all like it to be,
although CodeX does pretty well, because it is an destination spot.
This event center, the Arts Center that everybody is debating about is going to be a destination place, very
much Codex, very much like the Palace Theater, very much like the Capital Arts Center, very much like Phenix
Hall when it is done. And it doesn’t make sense not to amend and continue with this amendment and to give us
more time for the City of Nashua to make Nashua a destination spot, just like Concord, Manchester. | don’t
have any business in Keene so I’m sorry Mayor | can’t talk about Keene. So I’m in favor of this amendment, |
think it is a good thing for Nashua, I’m proud to be part of the Nashua Business Community and thank you.
Bernie Marchowsky Good evening, my name is Bernie Marchowsky, | live at 21 West Brook Drive. I’m a 35
plus year resident of Nashua and absolutely had no plans of standing in front of you this evening to talk about
this particular subject. | came here to merely to witness who goes on in our community and | am happy to see
so many positive people representing those people who are in favor of doing this in our town. It has been a
long time since | represented George’s Apparel in Manchester and telling people how to dress to go to their
business meetings, so I’m a little bit uncomfortable at this time. But nevertheless I’m here to represent seniors
frankly, because | think we often get overlooked in these situations. We travel to Ogunquit, we travel to Keene,
we travel to Manchester, we travel all over Massachusetts to go to shows. We love being entertained just as
anyone else does, I’m getting a little emotional, excuse me. But nevertheless we too on nights like tonight find
it difficult to drive, to be able to make our way to where we want to go. It’s raining out its snowy, it’s hard to get
to where you want to go. And we need somewhere to go in this community. And | hope you will decide to
make that happen for us. Thank you.
Lindsay Rinaldi Hello, my name is Lindsay Rinaldi and although | currently live in Lowell, Mass. | did live at 24
Woodfield Street for over 30 years and | still very much consider Nashua, New Hampshire my home. In fact the
last time | stood at this podium it was during my Law & Ethics Class here in this School so | really hope they did
