Phoenix nightspot to open in former Rosalini’s

Stonington — The former Rosalini’s nightclub will reopen April 3 as Phoenix Dining and Entertainment, which will offer dining, music, comedy and a host of other entertainment offerings, according to owner Richard Mann of Westerly.

“We think this place will be very popular. There’s nothing like it in the area,” he said, adding there is good buzz in the community about the club.

Since buying the building for $400,000 last August, Mann said he has invested $1 million to replace the electrical and plumbing systems which has been stripped by vandals, repaired the air conditioning and heating system, replaced the roof, installed a new kitchen, repaved the parking lot and refurbished the inside.

He said entertainment has already been booked for Friday and Saturday nights through the rest of the year. He said the April 3 event from 5 to 8 p.m. is an appreciation night “for people to come in and see the place.’’

Mann said the plan is to offer entertainment five nights a week with the supper club operating from 6 to 8 p.m. with shows from 8 to 11 p.m. He said the venue will also have art gallery, a car show on Tuesdays and volleyball, cornhole, horseshoes and other games outside during the summer.

The first weekend music lineup features Red Light, Modern & Classic dance Party rock cover band, on April 5 followed by Barefoot Rebel, a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band on April 6.

Last December, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a special use permit for the 307-seat supper club.

The commission attached a number of stipulations to its approval including reducing the number of outdoor volleyball courts from four to three and adding additional screening between the club and adjacent residential property. Live music will be limited to 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Friday and noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, large and sometimes rowdy crowds packed the former Rosalini’s nightclub on Route 2 to watch local and nationally known bands perform.

The club’s heyday ended in the 1990s, when it closed. Residents stopped a strip club from opening there in 1999. In 2000, a sports bar opened and was replaced in 2002 by the Fuji Gardens restaurant, which closed five years ago.