UTICA — Valley View, Utica’s iconic catering venue, is now back in the hands of the city after Daniele’s lease has expired.

The venue, formerly known as Daniele at Valley View, sits along the top of Utica’s Memorial Parkway and is currently vacant as Daniele’s no longer operates within the venue. The Bertolini Clubhouse at Valley View, which is owned and leased out by the city, has become synonymous with Daniele’s as they have had a presence there for over 20 years.

According to Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri, evicting Daniele’s was not an attack against the catering company but simply part of their lease agreement.

“It was a contract that had a 10-year contract with an option for another 10 years. After that 10 years was up, which is now, he had to re-bid it. By contract, we had to go out to an RFP [request for proposal],” Palmieri explained.

The city has sent out a legal notice seeking RFPs from interested parties who would want to take over the venue. Palmieri added that Daniele’s is welcome and even encouraged to reapply to lease out the venue again, should they choose to.

The lease’s expiration comes on the heels of the renovations planned for Valley View. Announced back in September, Valley View was to receive $2 million of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for a new grill room and bar, golf simulators, additional restrooms, an elevator for access to the main upper floor and an outdoor patio with a gas fireplace. A few months after the announcement, the projected cost for renovations increased to over $5 million due to inflation and supply chain issues. City officials were able to scale back on some of the planned amenities while keeping some of the major plans in place to bring the projected costs down.

“Valley View is an absolutely amazing facility that, over the years, we’ve never had the ability to put money into it,” Palmieri said. “This gives us an opportunity to bring a gem of the city back up to the standards that we all wish it could be.”

Jeffery Daniels, owner of Caterall, LLC, the parent company of Daniele’s Catering Specialists, plans to review the RFP before making a decision on whether Daniele’s might have a presence at the venue once again. Daniels claimed he filled out the original RFP back when renovations to Valley View were announced prior to the increased projected costs, however, he did not receive any correspondence back.

Daniels also shared his frustration with the city regarding operational problems he will run into, should Daniele’s return.

“My liquor license runs out at the end of the month. ... If I come back next year, it’s like starting all over again,” Daniels said. “I had some other concerns. I sent a letter to the engineering department last year, questioning if they were going to upgrade the existing facility as opposed to the new addition and I never got a response back on some of the questions that I had about things they were possibly going to do going forward. ... I have a concern about the parking, I have a concern about the lighting, I have a concern about the existing HVAC system in that building. The roof leaked in five different locations almost the whole time of my contract, so there are some issues there.”

Construction and renovations of Valley View is tentatively scheduled to be completed by late fall.