Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

Built in 1931 over an older wooden = structure,=20 Buscaglia's boarding house and restaurant was a haven for = immigrant miners=20 who came to Amador. Like Teresa's Place and other boarding houses = along=20 Jackson Gate Road, it was an epicenter for planting the Italian = heritage=20 in Amador.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch

In March, a wrecking crew went to work = on the=20 Buscaglia building, leaving only a minor section of a wall = standing in=20 order for the demolition to be technically classified as a=20 "remodel."

Photo by: Kelly=20 Scott
Decade after decade, its big brick = walls were=20 filled with energy. Italian songs and miners' lives echoed through its = shadows.=20 Around its bar, each fleeting generation toasted its own moment in time = before=20 disappearing - all while the silent structure endured to play witness to = history.

With heavy equipment smashing the last deathblows to the = famous=20 Buscaglia building on Jackson Gate Road, history buffs and long-time = residents=20 are mourning the loss of a building that for 77 years contributed to the = hardy=20 fiber of Amador County.

The first generation of Buscaglia = brothers, John=20 and Bautista, constructed their restaurant and boarding house in 1931 = over a=20 wood structure they'd owned for years before that. "It was essentially a = home=20 away from home for many of the Italian miners," said Phillip Giurlani, = whose=20 family has owned nearby Teresa's Place for several generations. "It was = kind of=20 a little Italy."

One of the reasons immigrant miners felt so = comfortable=20 at Buscaglia's was that John and Bautista, along with Bautista's wife, = Matilda,=20 brought a quaint, old-world approach to everything they did - which = included=20 being almost entirely self-sufficient. The family raised their own hogs = and=20 chickens on the premises and had a slaughterhouse for cutting up fresh = meat.=20 They also grew elaborate vegetable gardens and herb gardens which were = the=20 source of much of their cooking.

In 1942, the mines were closed = so that=20 the United States could concentrate on the war effort. The Buscaglia = family=20 began to shift their focus from boarding tenants to having a more = established=20 restaurant and bar. Bautista and Matilda's only child, Edith, married = Lucio=20 Nigra and had three sons: John, Ronald and Joseph Nigra. By the 1950s, = Edith and=20 Lucio were taking the helm of the restaurant, though in true family form = the=20 elders continued to help them with the countless chores and = tasks.

Roger=20 Faddis of Pine Grove spent much of his childhood under the roof of = Buscaglia's=20 during this changing of the guard. In 1957, his mother became a = dishwasher for=20 Edith and Lucio. Faddis said that the restaurant business was so = demanding - a=20 "dusk to dawn" tribulation that never ceased - that in order to spend = time with=20 his mother he had to spend his evenings there. Faddis enjoyed playing = with the=20 three Buscaglia boys, who were also, in his words, "restaurant orphans." =

According to Faddis, the grand old building and the atmosphere = it=20 created was truly special. "I just remember being in awe of the = structure=20 itself," he recalled. "In those days brick places were rare; usually = they were=20 only owned by people who were well-off. I would walk around and look at = its=20 great tile floors and massive walls that were three layers thick. I knew = it had=20 to be one of the nicest buildings in the entire town."

Faddis' = mother was=20 eventually promoted to cook and spent 20 years working for the = Buscaglias. One=20 impressive development from this time that Faddis vividly remembers is = when=20 Edith partnered with one of her employee's husbands, Tom Trodder, to = make their=20 own ravioli factory. Faddis worked in the factory during the summers = when he was=20 a teenager. By the early 1960s, he said Trodder had managed to make the=20 Buscaglia raviolis a major product that was being sold across the=20 country.

"It was really a big deal," Faddis explained. "You could = go into=20 any grocery store and find them. It was taking off and they even = branched out=20 into delivering dairy as well; but Trodder was really the driving force = behind=20 it. The operation never reached its full potential because he was killed = in a=20 trucking accident early on. After that, it came to a halt and Edith went = back to=20 just having the restaurant. I've often wondered how far raviolis could = have gone=20 if Trodder had lived."

In the mid-1970s, the Buscaglias remodeled = and=20 expanded the size of the restaurant, adding, among other things, a dance = floor.=20 From that point into the late-1990s, Buscaglia's was both a popular = family=20 restaurant and one of the most crowded night clubs in = Amador.

Several=20 years ago, the Buscaglia sons sold the business to Ron Sette and Susan = Mazzera.=20 The new owners built a second restaurant structure on the grounds. In = October=20 2006 they submitted plans to the city of Jackson for demolition of the = original=20 brick building.

Despite a vehement public outcry, the Jackson = Planning=20 Commission allowed the destruction to go forward in March of this year. = The=20 charge to save the building had been led by Giurlani, who claimed the = planning=20 commission and other city officials were basically allowing the new = owners to=20 bulldoze history itself. "The Site Plan Review Committee gave them an=20 opportunity to try to legally save it," Giurlani said. "And they chose = not to.=20 While I'm a firm believer in property owners' rights, sometimes you have = to look=20 at the greater public good. The decision to destroy this building took = away from=20 our history and our character. Things like this hurt the=20 community."

Giurlani added many of his fellow neighbors on = Jackson Gate=20 Road were "sick" over the spectacle of the brick building being torn = apart. "No=20 one can really believe it," he said. "My family lost a house to a fire = in 1999;=20 and standing there watching the Buscaglia's building get demolished, I = had that=20 same exact feeling inside. It was a helpless, empty feeling in my = stomach. I=20 keep hearing that Jackson is trying to re-establish itself and sell its=20 historical appeal. How can anyone think this was a step in the right=20 direction?"

Faddis agreed. As bulldozers went to work on what = many saw as=20 an embodiment of the Italian immigrant story, Faddis and county = historian Larry=20 Cenotto watched from a distance. "It was just heartbreaking," Faddis = later=20 remarked. "I have a feeling people will look back and come to really = regret this=20 decision."

Scott Thomas = Anderson