Fogolar Furlan votes to sell 65-year property, transition away from banquets

The Fogolar Furlan Club is set to be sold. CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru explains the reasoning behind the decision.

For 87-year-old Bernardina Del Col Uzonyi, who was there when the Fogolar Furlan first opened in the early 1960s, knowing the building’s final events will come by the end of 2026 is extremely emotional for her, with so much of her family’s life rooted inside its walls.

“My children grew up there. The children were baptized there. Some of them even got married there,” she said.

One of Windsor’s long-standing cultural landmarks is now set to change hands after members of the Fogolar Furlan Club voted to sell the property where generations of residents have attended weddings, banquets, and community events.

In a letter to members, the club’s board of directors said a membership vote held Feb. 11 passed by a wide margin. Out of 247 ballots cast, 217 supported selling the current property, with 25 opposed, three abstentions, and two spoiled ballots.

While the property at 1800 North Service Road is being put up for sale, the building is not closing immediately. The board said the club will continue normal operations and honour all existing bookings through the end of 2026.

That means weddings, banquets, and other events already scheduled at the hall can proceed as planned for the rest of the year.

“This was not an easy decision,” the board wrote in an email to members, saying the outcome followed “careful consideration and thoughtful discussion about the long-term sustainability of our organization.”

In the letter, the board also pointed to the rising costs and challenges tied to the hall and banquet operation.

“The banquet and hall rental business has become increasingly challenging to maintain, and this change will allow us to eliminate the financial pressures associated with operating a large facility,” the board said.

Club president Larry Masotti said the vote was driven by a combination of economic pressures and changing habits since the pandemic.

He pointed to rising wages, higher maintenance costs, inflation, and shifts in the wedding market — including destination ceremonies and fewer traditional banquet bookings — as factors that made the current model harder to sustain.

“When we sell the property, we could be still here with a smaller footprint that honors the membership, as opposed to the banquet business. That is one possibility, dependent upon a buyer,” said Masotti.

“The other is we could very easily move to another place within Windsor-Essex. We strongly believe, as a membership, that we’d like to have a facility.”

Masotti added the Fogolar has long relied on volunteers, from members tending the grounds to others organizing language programs, youth activities, and scholarships for local students.

He said those types of initiatives — rather than banquet bookings — are what the club hopes to prioritize moving forward.

“I credit our founders who made the financial investment they did back then to put us in a position where we can decide what is it we want to be in the future,” said Masotti.

Masotti also noted the club, like many other organizations, has felt the residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You’ve got people that are not returning to their social functions. They became independent and stayed home,” he said.

For many in Windsor-Essex, the Fogolar Furlan building has long been a familiar sight and a gathering place for major life events, from weddings and anniversaries to community fundraisers and cultural celebrations.

In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the club sold roughly 10 acres of surplus land to HD Development Group, which is now planning a multi-building residential project on the site.

The board says members will be kept informed as the sale process moves forward and as future plans for the club are developed.

As for Uzonyi, who organized Miss Fogolar pageants, summer programs for children, and countless cultural events, the board’s decision to sell the property has hit her hard.

“When I moved from my home, I didn’t cry,” Uzonyi said. “But when they said they were selling the Fogolar, it was a shock.”

The Fogolar Furlan Club of Windsor opened in 1961.