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“Seventy Years of Milwaukee History” is promised for visitors to the Shorecrest Hotel Rummage Sale to be held this Saturday. The hotel, long owned by the family of Mafia don Frank Balistrieri, is stuffed to the gills with a bizarre assemblage of bric-a-brac, from bar stools and chandeliers to stereo gear, sporting goods and restaurant equipment, presumably left over from the days when the family owned various taverns. Meanwhile, the hotel itself is said to be for sale.

(photos by Sell It Now Store)

The cash-and-carry sale will be held at the premises, 1962 N. Prospect Ave., from 9 to 4 p.m. on May 14. Photographs of the sale items provide a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the hotel and its operating family. Row upon row of what the sellers optimistically call “mid-century modern furniture” is lined up in its turquoise vinyl splendor, while chandeliers from long-gone restaurants and taverns hang from the ceiling. An impressive array of 1970s televisions awaits an unknown fate, most likely the dumpsters to which they should have been consigned years ago.

“We expect an overflow crowd of buyers due to the interest in the historic landmark and the sheer volume of merchandise,” said Mike Boerschinger, owner of The Sell It Now Store in Waukesha, in a press release announcing the sale. Boerschinger, alas, could not be reached because his company’s published telephone number has been disconnected.

The sale promises “loads” of “antiques,” “collectibles,” and “art,” in what is called, perhaps without hyperbole, “one of the largest collections of sale items … all priced to sell.” The list of sale items also includes chairs, tables, desks, art, stained and leaded glass, lamps and other furnishings, sporting goods, stainless steel and other industrial tables, glassware and restaurant items, all “collected by the owner/operating family.”

It could not be determined if the bronze statue that once graced the Savoy restaurant in the building – the “Neapolitan Fisherman Dancing the Tarantella” by Duret – is among the items for sale. The late Joe Balistrieri used to brag that its only copy was in the Louvre. Nor does the spinet piano shown in one photograph appear to be the same that had been famously played by such notables as Duke Ellington, as Balistrieri was fond of noting.

But it is certainly to be hoped that one fateful and famed table is for sale – the one under which the FBI planted a microphone where Frank Balistrieri made the statements that revealed too much about his criminal enterprises. These recordings led directly to the conviction and imprisonment (in federal prisons) of Frank and his two sons Joe and John.

Meanwhile, there are rumors the hotel itself is for sale. The hotel was purchased from his father by Joe for “$1 … and other, unspecified, ‘good and valuable consideration’” in 1971; Frank owned it for some years prior to this. The property was left in its entirety to John Balistrieri, Joe’s brother, who lives in the building, although one Balistrieri cousin tells NewsBuzz the property has been sold for some $10 million. That seems unlikely as the hotel is currently assessed at $5.4 million, and the Westbury Bank of West Bend has a $6 million claim against the estate.

City records show the building also has a number of minor unabated building code violations, such as exposed circuit boxes, improper fire escape treads and flammable curtains separating the kitchen from the dining area. The owners are also cited for failure to file a facade inspection report as mandated by city code to ensure that multistory buildings maintain a sound shell. This could pose a significant expense to a new owner if deficiencies are detected. (Calls by NewsBuzz to both the attorney handling the Shorecrest estate and to the attorney handling the claim for Westbury Bank were not returned.)

The sale is the first Balistrieri family rummage sale since one following the 1997 death of Antonina Balistrieri, Frank’s widow and Joe and John’s mother. During that sale, held at the elder Balistrieri’s home on North Shepard Avenue, hundreds of items also brought the attention of collectors. One bidder still proudly displays the leather satchel engraved with “FPB,” which he speculates carried millions of dollars in cash between Milwaukee and Las Vegas in the past. Inside the satchel was a hat from the 1961 Italian Invitational Golf Tournament, now run by John.

Neapolitan Fisherman Dancing the Tarantella

The 2001 rummage sale exacerbated deep rifts between Joe Balistrieri and his estranged sister Benedetta (now deceased), who sued for one-quarter of the proceeds from the sale and for profits from the operation of the hotel and from the sale of her parents’ assets. (See “Daughter of the Don,” in Milwaukee Magazine, May 2002.)

Benedetta was unsuccessful in that suit, while Joe prevailed over his other sister, Catherine, in his lawsuit that accused her of improperly taking items that had belonged to their parents.

The court ordered that, “All family photos should be made available to be copied; Joseph has a right to have copies; any items of jewelry that defendant has taken without permission or were given to her after the father’s death must be turned over to plaintiff. Court will leave this up to the conscience of the defendant.”

Proceeds from the upcoming Shorecrest sale are not likely to be as controversial since Joe Balistrieri’s will, as reported by NewsBuzz, (“Son of Mafia Don Stiffs His Sisters”) specifically disinherited both in favor of his brother John.  This will presumably save him any legal fees along with the disposal fees he might have otherwise incurred in getting rid of these items, all of which are being sold in “as-is” condition, including the worn-out bodybuilding machines. Care for a beat-up punching bag, anybody?

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