Roof leaks at China Town market force its shutdown

Norwich - The China Town Food Center, one of the largest Asian-American markets in eastern Connecticut, was closed down Friday by the Uncas Health District because a leaky roof endangered the safety of food prepared on premises, an official said.

Patrick McCormack, director of health for the district, said his department had been working with business owner Yue Hui Xu for several weeks to resolve problems at the food center on Hamilton Avenue. McCormack said Yue had been working in good faith to comply with the health codes, but that the building's owner, listed as Hamilton Avenue Realty LLC, had been unable or unwilling to fix the roof.

"I have never seen a situation where a tenant and landlord couldn't come to an agreement to keep a facility open," said McCormack, who has been with the Uncas Health District for nearly six years.

Norwich tax records list Hamilton Avenue Realty LLC's address as c/o United Orient Bank, Credit Administration Department, New York, N.Y.

McCormack said his district shuts down only one or two operations in an average year. The district doesn't have the power to intercede with the landlord, whose principal is listed as Edmund Ng, he added.

At the food center Friday afternoon, health district sanitarians David Coughlin and Albert Gosselin Jr. consulted with manager Jennifer Chen and employee John Su as they officially shut down the operation. McCormack said the operators voluntarily had shut down the fresh seafood and meat part of the business about two weeks ago, not wanting customers to get sick, but were allowed time to sell off some other inventory not under the district's purview.

"We feel very sorry for our customers," Chen said.

The store has been holding a "50 percent off" sale for several weeks, Chen said, and more recently has been slashing prices even more. Friday, the food center was giving away items as a consolation to customers who had driven as long as an hour to buy Asian delicacies, she said.

Rumors had been flying that the store was going out of business, but management had been denying the reports over the past two weeks.

John Wong, president of the Chinese & American Cultural Assistance Association, said the food-preparation portion of the business will be missed by some, especially those who enjoyed the market's barbecue items. But he didn't think the market would be badly missed.

"They'll always find another place," he said. "The Asian citizens around here think the prices there are too high, anyway."

But the health district's McCormack said he believes the market was in an underserved area and pointed out that many Asian employees of the local casinos walked to the store on their way to work.

"It's not just a business - it's a cultural location for the Asian population," he said. "To some extent, it's a community center for the people he was serving in that end of town."

Indeed, a bulletin board outside the store contained notices, many written in Chinese, looking for roommates and trying to sell items. Inside the store, one sign warned: "No stealing. If caught fined $100 per every dollar stolen."

Store employees said the health-district shutdown is considered permanent, but they hope to reopen when the roof is fixed. Su said it would likely take months to complete the repairs.

Chen said the store had spent $20,000 erecting an attractive ceiling below the defective roof, but leaks continued to be a problem. She added that the food center, which replaced another Asian market about three years ago, signed a seven-year lease at the time.

Chen said the market, which attracted hundreds of customers each day, has insurance to cover the losses and was still trying to resolve the problem with its landlord. McCormack said most of the food items had been cleared out of the store by the time his inspectors arrived Friday afternoon.

"We were in agreement that it was not a good situation for the health of patrons," McCormack said.

He added that the food center will not be able to reopen until roof repairs are made and the facility is inspected.