ARTIST

knew the place would never be a restaurant again because, Stannard said, Celentano had it deed restricted to that extent.

That made it a must paint for Stannard, who remembers Celentano telling him that he put the building there because he wanted to catch the traffic going both in and out of

Savin Rock back in the day.

The Bilco Co. has since moved back to New Haven and the West Haven building is slated to be demolished to make way for The Haven, he said.

Both buildings will be gone someday and the value of the paintings he donated will double, Stannard said.

He did the paintings thinking somebody in West Haven would want them for historical purposes, but

when nobody expressed interest, Stannard decided to donate.

Stannard said he’s considering doing more historical places.

He never went to Savin Rock as a youngster — it was closed when he was about 6-years-old — but said that since more and more images of the legendary amusement park are appearing on Facebook, he may tackle those images next.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media The Bilko Company, one of two donated oil pastel paintings by artist Dave Stannard that hang outside of the Assessor's Office at West Haven City Hall on Friday.