Giant of Norwich business dies

Norwich — Ronald D. Aliano, businessman, developer, dreamer and visionary who turned a back-door ambulance company into a leading city business and transformed a dirty industrial wharf into a scenic marina, died Saturday after a series of illnesses.

Aliano, 65, owner of The American Group, an umbrella organization of five companies that includes the Marina at American Wharf, American Ambulance and American Professional Education Services, was a city icon and champion of Norwich's history, architectural beauty and potential - always potential.

No stranger to controversy, Aliano championed a $100 million plan to build a waterfront campus for Three Rivers Community College, briefly befriended and was called "partner" to former Utopia Studios' developer Joseph Gentile and served for years as chairman of the Harbor Management Commission that oversaw his own waterfront development and plans. Most recently, he worked with a Pennsylvania developer to bring a 20-story Hilton Hotel to the harbor. The plan has been stalled in the weak economy.

Aliano resigned from the harbor commission last week, admitting to some health issues, but saying he really meant to allow "fresh blood" a chance to serve on the commission. Aliano had battled health problems for years, enduring multiple heart surgeries, and recently underwent back and neck surgery.

He is survived by his wife, Valerie Aliano, a son, Michael Aliano, who runs some of the business operations, and a daughter in Chicago.

Church & Allen Funeral Services of Norwich is in charge of funeral arrangements, which are incomplete.

Last week, Aliano called longtime friend and political confidant William Stanley and told him he had lung cancer and kidney failure. Stanley, also in poor health recently, said Saturday he regretted that he never got the chance to visit Aliano at The William W. Backus during his final week.

"I've lost a good friend and Norwich has lost a good friend," Stanley said. "If I know Ron, he would want to die on a Saturday so he could make the Sunday edition."

Aliano had a hand in numerous city endeavors, from saving a historic 1860 banner welcoming then-presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln to Norwich to years of personally footing the bill for July 4 fireworks and hosting high-profile Republican political fundraisers. The preserved banner now is on display at City Hall. The fireworks spectacle, an annual tradition, now is paid for through a community fundraising campaign.

As a developer, Aliano never stopped dreaming, Stanley said.

Attorney Theodore Phillips, who represented Aliano and also was a close friend, hailed his vision and his cheerleading attitude for Norwich.

"The man was an icon who had a major positive impact on Norwich," Phillips said. "He was the first developer in my adult life who came into town and put his own money where his mouth was, and turned a decaying island into the marina that we all are so proud of."

Aliano, whose father was the son of Italian immigrants, grew up in Bristol and moved to Norwich in the early 1970s. He joked that years later locals still called him an "outsider."

Stanley recalled meeting Aliano shortly after he moved to Norwich. Stanley introduced Aliano to the owner of City Cab, which at the time ran the only ambulance service in Norwich. Stanley called it a "slap happy" operation.

Aliano and a partner from Hartford opened Professional Ambulance Service of Norwich (PASON) in 1972 with two used ambulances "and Ron Aliano's dream to provide high quality EMS care," a statement on the company Web site said. The company now has 200 employees and expanded in 1996 to form American Professional Educational Services.

All American Group Web sites carried a statement accompanied by a black ribbon Saturday: "It is with our deepest regret and sorrow that we announce to you the passing of Ronald D. Aliano. All of our thoughts and prayers should be with the entire Aliano family at this very difficult time. Arrangements are in process and will be announced in the near future."

American Ambulance grew into one of the city's top taxpayers, opening a $1.8 million facility at One American Way overlooking Norwich Harbor in 1986. In 2005, its subsidiary, PASON, was fined $1.6 million and placed on five years probation for fraudulent billing of Medicare for ambulance services. No customers were defrauded, and city officials quickly expressed continued support for the company and renewed its exclusive ambulance contract with American Ambulance.

Named the city's preferred developer in 1987 for the rundown former industrial wharf at the center of the harbor, Aliano opened the Marina at American Wharf in 1989 and helped build the Howard T. Brown Memorial Park on the downtown mainland. Both are city fixtures and the sites for numerous annual festivals and special events. The marina has expanded to 200 boat slips and a large-vessel dock that has at times accommodated super yachts on visits to Norwich.

In 2002, then state Rep. Jack Malone, D-Norwich, proposed a $100 million downtown campus for Three Rivers Community College, with high-rise buildings, an accompanying culinary arts school and banquet hall on the marina property - something Aliano has always wanted there. But economics and politics prevailed, and former Gov. John Rowland nixed the idea.

In the mid 1990s, Aliano thought he had another partner with big dreams for the waterfront, when then Mashantucket-Pequot Tribal Council Chairman Richard "Skip" Hayward revealed big plans for the city waterfront. They never came to fruition. Several years later, Gentile met with Aliano and again formed proposals to connect Gentile's $1 billion studio and entertainment complex at Norwich Hospital up river to Norwich Hospital. That died quickly. Earlier this year, when Long Island developer Donald Monti explored Norwich, he too met with Aliano to try to gain favor for his idea of a downtown master plan. Aliano liked the idea but was more cautious.

Aliano seemed closer to getting his long-desired marina hotel and banquet hall when Philadelphia-based PRA Development & Management Corp. proposed the full-service Hilton Hotel. It was Aliano who told city officials at a recent Harbor Management Commission meeting in summer that the project was being delayed by the slow economy.

Alderman Mark Bettencourt served with Aliano on the Harbor Management Commission and was at that meeting.

"I know he wasn't always able to get something done," Bettencourt, a Democrat, said. "He invested millions of his own money in the marina. I think he was a pretty good businessman. He gave an awful lot to the community. I enjoyed my time with him. We had our differences."

c.bessette@theday.com