Sweetwater Casino Insurance Claim Unresolved Seven Weeks After Fire
From the Atlantic City Press Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008
By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL Staff Writer, 609-272-7227
MULLICA TOWNSHIP - Seven weeks after a fire destroyed the Sweetwater Casino restaurant, owners Jeff Anastasi and Joe Cavalieri haven't seen any money from their $2 million insurance claim as they try to rebuild, Anastasi said.
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The reason isn't clear. Attorneys for the pair and for Great American Insurance Company are conversing but have not reached a resolution, said Jerry Walker, their case's public adjuster from the Galloway Township firm Altman & Altman. A call to the insurer's Cincinnati headquarters Tuesday afternoon was not returned.
Anastasi said the insurance company ruled weeks ago that lightning was responsible, but the official cause remains undetermined, said township Sgt. Jim Wild, lead investigator into the blaze.
A State Police laboratory last week finished testing materials retrieved from the fire, finding no flammable agents, such as lighter fluid.
Residents of the Sweetwater section heard a massive thunder clap about 2 a.m. Monday, June 30. Firefighters were summoned to the restaurant two hours later, but the fire was fully involved and the 81-year-old building was a total loss. It took more than 40 firefighters to control the fire by mid-morning, and the hoses ran for 24 hours.
Without insurance reimbursement thus far, the owners arranged a demolition contractor to work for deferred payment. The shell of the restaurant, and several smaller accessory buildings that were damaged but not destroyed, should be leveled by week's end, Anastasi said. As he took a quick break from lugging tables and chairs out of a shed - alongside the bandana-clad former dishwasher Rocco Denmead, an employee for 19 years - Anastasi expressed his frustration that Great American's pace has "tied us up." A complaint has been filed with state government, he said.
Anastasi emphasized that as long as the claim is processed eventually, "coverage-wise, we'll be fine to rebuild."
The owners will interview architects and builders after demolition finishes, hoping to re-open to diners by June 1.
"We're going to put a building up that fits this area," Anastasi said. "It's not going to be any kind of contemporary thing."
A spokesman for the Pinelands Commission said the day after the fire that if the new restaurant fits within the footprint of the old one, "it appears it would not raise any issues" with permitting.
E-mail Eric Scott Campbell: ECampbell@pressofac.com
