Does anyone have any information about Narragansett brewing company? especially about when the fire took place

Question

i want to sell some items on ebay the came from the original factory and i need more details about when the fire was and what not

Answer 1

1981 - The End Approaches

Modernizing the old plant was its only hope for survival. In June 1981, plans were made to convert the old oil-burning boilers to natural gas and solve the hazard of leaking steam pipes. Such a change would save the brewery an estimated $5,000 per day. The brewery asked for a year-round, five-year guarantee of continuous service, a request that the Providence Gas Company refused to guarantee. Cranston's mayor and the governor stepped in hoping to mediate a settlement without success. The brewery's days were numbered.

The aging plant and equipment was only a part of the problem. Union workers went on strike for increased wages and improved health and life insurance benefits. Increased costs of production materials and utilities, declining stocks, taxes, and the high cost of workers compensation played a part in the demise of the brewery. Analysts cited another factor. Its customers were an older generation. Brewery advertising had overlooked the 18-35 age group. These factors sealed the fate of 350 workers who lost their jobs on July 31, 1981. Industry observers said that one of its major problems, one that faced all small breweries, is staying profitable in a market that has become increasing dominated by the national brewing companies.

The Narragansett brand didn't die with the passing of the brewery. Production of the brand shifted to the Falstaff plant at Fort Wayne, Indiana, in February 1982. The labels still read "Cranston, RI," but drinkers were not fooled. The water from Rhode Island's Scituate Reservoir was the best water in the country. The beer from Fort Wayne was not the same.

The closing at Cranston was only temporary. In a ploy to delay paying severance to 250 laid-off workers, Falstaff reopened the plant on January 13, 1983, to produce only keg beer. Six brewers and 19 contract workers, including pipe fitters and machinists, were recalled to begin a 450 gallon brew. The following day a batch of 800-gallons was started. The beer never reached the market and three months after the brewery opened, it closed for the last time. The laid off workers each received $4,400 in severance pay in August.

Three years after the closing, the city of Cranston estimated the brewery property to be worth no less than $3.5 million. Annual taxes had dwindled to $90,668. Paul Kalmanovitz was holding on to some valuable real estate property across the nation; eight other closed breweries once operated by Falstaff and Pabst, including the large Cranston complex.

Paul Kalmanovitz died in January 1987. His obituary listed his worth at 250 million and said most of it would go to hospitals. He left behind his wife of 57 years, Lydia, and no children. The brewery properties are controlled by a holding company, the S&P Corporation of California.

The once giant brewery became a victim of vandalism and weather in the decade following the closing. In 1993, the state considered building a higher education biotechnology research center at the Narragansett complex. Officials approached the S&P Corporation, then a quasi-foundation with an endowment of almost $400 million to benefit education and medicine, about using the property. S&P was not interested. A year later, S&P Corporation agreed to lease the former brewery site, for non-profit use, at $1 a year for 20 years. The offer was not accepted.

In July 1995, 46 tons of brewery equipment was removed from the Cranston plant and shipped to China. S&P would not disclose the sale price. A year later, Forbes 500 lists S&P's worth at $550 million. The corporate address is at Mill Valley, California, but the recent CEO, Lutz Issieb, lived in San Antonio, Texas. Issieb resigned his position in January 1998.

Answer 2

The Narragansett Brewing Company was founded in Cranston, Rhode Island in 1888. It was closed on July 31, 1981, and then re-established in 2005.

Formerly the number one selling brand in New England, Narrangansett now occupies a relatively narrow segment of the market. Originally brewed in the city of Cranston, it was famous for its drinkability and the advertising slogan, "Hi, Neighbor, have a 'Gansett!", most famously uttered by Boston Red Sox announcer Curt Gowdy.

Narragansett Brewing Company was founded in 1888 with $150,000 in capital and a brick brewing house was built in Cranston, Rhode Island. In December of 1890, the first beer was produced, and the following year, the company officially incorporated.

The grounds of the Narragansett Brewing Company included a barn, a stable, a blacksmith, seventy-five horses, forty-five wagons, gas-powered trucks, electric trucks, twenty-five refrigerated train cars and its own ice plant.

By 1891 the Narragansett Brewing Company brewed almost 28,000 barrels of beer under the company’s promise of the purest ingredients, uncompromising cleanliness of manufacturing and absolute perfection of brew.

In 1914, when the company built the most modern bottling plant in the region, it became official: Narragansett Brewing Company was the largest lager beer brewery in New England.

Rudolf F. Haffenreffer, would eventually become president and chairman of Narragansett Brewing Company and remain involved until his death in 1954. The Haffenreffer brewery in Boston survived until 1965, at which time brands like Haffenreffer Lager Beer, Pickwick Ale and Pickwick Bock Beer became the property of the Narragansett Brewing Company.

Falstaff Brewing Company purchased Narragansett Brewing Company on July 15, 1965 for $17 million in cash and $2 million in Falstaff common stock. The plan was for the brewery to continue operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Falstaff, under Haffenreffer management, and that the Narragansett brand would be retained and actively promoted.

In the 1975, Steven Spielberg film Jaws the character played by Robert Shaw is seen drinking cans of Narragansett

In October 1974, nine years after they had first agreed to purchase the company, Falstaff completed the acquisition.

Multi-millionaire Paul Kalmanovitz obtained majority control of Narragansett's parent corporation, the Falstaff Brewing Co., on April 28, 1975. The San Francisco brewer and businessman bought the brewery for an undisclosed amount. Soon after the purchase Falstaff's corporate headquarters moved from St. Louis, Missouri to San Francisco, California.

The brewery officially closed on July 31, 1981. When production of the beer moved to the Falstaff plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1982, many felt that the quality of the beer was not the same, and sales declines accelerated.

After changing hands several times, the brand was bought in 2005 by a team of local investors led by former juice executive Mark D. Hellendrung, who announced plans to expand its market share and reinvigorate the Narragansett brand identity.

Since the purchase, the brand has indeed been revitalized with the help of former brewmaster Bill Anderson, and some sharp new packaging. Narragansett beer, now contract brewed by High Falls Brewing Company, has been available again throughout Southern New England since spring of 2006.

In the summer of 2007, Narragansett reintroduced puzzle messages under the caps of their Haffenreffer line of beer. The puzzle messages were first used in the 1970s, and became one of the signature features of Haffenreffer.

There was no fire that I know of.