The Morning Blend
Welcome
Complete Media Kit
SIERRA VISTA — The Palms is closed for now, and its future seems uncertain.
And some groups that have planned to use the event facility have started looking for a new place.
On Thursday night, the owners of the facility on Wilcox Drive closed the doors and put signs up stating: “Due to restructuring The Palms will be temporarily closed.” They did so apparently without telling some employees.
On Friday morning, R.M. Quattlebaum, whose wife, Rose Mary, is president of The Simply the Best of The Palms Corp., which owns The Palms, said the couple are hoping the facility can reopen in about a month.
|
|
But that is contingent on whether a bankruptcy filing will be done as part of the restructuring.
Quattlebaum said the decision to close The Palms was made Thursday night.
“It’s torn both of us up,” he said.
The facility, which hosts events, meetings, wedding, dances and other large-scale functions, as well as serving a daily lunch buffet and Sunday brunch, has seen its daily functions lose customers, and that has led to a reduction in the staff to about 25 employees, Quattlebaum said.
The weekday lunches serve less than 100 people daily, and the Sunday brunch serves around 75 people, “which is nowhere what we expected,” he said.
The Palms, which was once the location of a bowling alley, first opened its doors in November 2006.
When asked about the state of the corporation’s financial situation, Quattlebaum said the amount “is a lot, but I’m not going to put a figure on it. It’s just a lot.”
However, he promised “everyone will be taken care of,” including the employees.
That promise does not satisfy Richard Salvatierra, who had a part-time job as a waiter for large events at the facility.
Friday was supposed to be pay day, which Salvatierra said he needed to help pay his monthly rent.
He kept calling The Palms phone number on Friday, but no one answered.
Quattlebaum later called Salvatierra and told him that “they didn’t have any money and I would be paid when he got money,” he said.
“That’s unacceptable,” an angry Salvatierra said. “I worked and I want my pay.”
But Salvatierra fears the situation could be like that of Johnny Carino’s, a food service business in Sierra Vista that closed its doors without informing most of the employees.
“I can’t wait for months or years to get my pay. I need it now,” he said.
At least five other members of The Palms wait staff did not know about the pending closing, Salvatierra said.
He said he should have known something was amiss two weeks ago when he was paid. He and others were asked not to cash their checks “for two or three days.”
A weekend ago, he worked a large Kiwanis Club event over two days, putting in 24 hours. The pay for that time and other services is what would have been in this paycheck.
At least he has another job. Salvatierra works at Fort Huachuca’s Thunder Mountain Activity Centre.
The post facility and the Windemere Hotel and Conference Center on Highway 92 are really two of only a few local facilities that can handle large events.
Quattlebaum said he knows closing The Palms will affect some organizations. He listed some events that were planned, such as the Buena High School Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Ball scheduled for Feb. 23, a nationwide Army cultural conference in March, the Buena High School Prom in April, and a number of June wedding receptions.
Retired Sgt. 1st Class Warren Wright, an instructor with the Buena JROTC program, said the annual ball is attended by nearly 150 people. Last year, it was held at The Palms.
Wright said the first thing he must do is find a new venue for the ball. He planned to go to the post facility to seek assistance.
Jackie Hilsenbeck, a spokeswoman for the Thunder Mountain Activity Centre, said some dates are available.
“We will be happy to help anybody who needs a booking and will be pleased to accommodate as many as we can,” she said.
Fred Bohan, assistant general manager at the Windemere, said the hotel and conference center has “plenty of openings for the remainder of the year.”
Greg Duce, who oversees clubs and activities at Buena High School, said he was meeting with the student government adviser Friday afternoon to discuss the situation. It appears to him that the event, held last year at The Palms, will now be done at the school.
The Cochise College Center for Economic Research is scheduled to hold its annual Sierra Vista Economic luncheon at the now closed facility on March 13. It would be the first time the event, which typically draws 400 people and is a centerpiece for local economic news, would be at The Palms.
On Friday, the center’s director, Robert Carriera, was unavailable for comment as to if the center will have to change its plans.
Quattlebaum said he and his wife are distressed by the inconvenience the business decision to temporarily close The Palms will have on many people and groups.
HERALD/REVIEW senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4614.
Not Surprised wrote on Feb 15, 2008 5:25 PM: