News / Vincenzo's
‘One week left’ to save popular pizza house
A crowdfunding campaign to save Vincenzo’s Pizza House has already raised nearly £1,300 in the first 24 hours of going live.
In what appears to be a final ditch effort, the campaign, which was launched on Sunday, July 31 says the public has one week left to save the much-loved Park Street pizza restaurant,
Isabella, Rafaele and Giuseppe, the Bristol-Italian siblings behind Vincenzo’s, have been fighting an ongoing legal battle with developer, Urbina since May 2019, who want to demolish the building in order to build student flats and a shop in the restaurant’s place.
is needed now More than ever
The decision to terminate the lease of the building for the redevelopment was approved by a judge in December 2021. The siblings appealed the decision, which was subsequently rejected. Despite these setbacks, the siblings are still fighting the decision.
They now face a fresh wave of court fees, and have until August 6 to raise nearly £10,000, after losing an appeal against their eviction, as well as a possible £50,000 to continue the legal challenge.
The Park Street pizza restaurant has been a local favourite since the seventies – Photo: Bristol24/7
The Gofundme page, created by The People of Bristol, says the late Vincenzo Ricci’s three children have “spent their entire life savings, exhausted credit options and will soon be forced into liquidation if they cannot raise the funds required to pay their court fees.”
It continues: “We have to ask – is it worth losing a 52 year old, independent, hospitality business in return for a 0.02 per cent increase in student accommodation in Bristol?”
“Who are these public sector workers who decided this was an acceptable loss for the people of Bristol?”
A Change.org petition was initially launched in December last year, gaining over 1000 signatures in a short period of time. The petition has now reached nearly 6,000 signatures, as people have reinvigorated the push to protect Vincenzo’s in the last 24 hours.
The family-run restaurant has operated in the premises since 1970.
Main photo: People of Bristol GoFundMe
Read more: ‘Passion and enthusiasm don’t pay the bills’
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