Editing Cocoanut Grove fire (section)

==Club==
The Cocoanut Grove opened as a partnership between two orchestra leaders, Mickey Alpert and Jacques Renard, in 1927 during [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] at 17 Piedmont Street in the [[Bay Village, Boston, Massachusetts|Bay Village]] neighborhood of Boston, spanning from Piedmont Street to Shawmut Street. It became a [[speakeasy]] as Alpert and Renard's [[American Mafia|Mafia]]-connected financiers gained control, and the club had a reputation as a gangland hangout. Although neither Alpert nor Renard held an interest in the club by 1942, Alpert was leading the house band on the night of the fire.

Gangland boss and [[Rum-running|bootlegger]] [[Charles Solomon (racketeer)|Charles "King" Solomon]], also known as "Boston Charlie", owned the club from 1931 until he was gunned down in the men's room of [[Roxbury, Boston|Roxbury]]'s Cotton Club nightclub in 1933.<ref>"Cabaret gunmen kill 'King' Solomon," ''The New York Times'', Jan. 25, 1933, p. 36.</ref><ref name = "Grove"/> Ownership passed to his lawyer Barnet "Barney" Welansky,<ref name = "Grove"/> who sought a more mainstream image for the club while privately boasting of his ties to the mob and [[Mayor of Boston|Boston Mayor]] [[Maurice J. Tobin]]. Welansky was known to be a tough boss who ran a tight ship, hiring teenagers as [[Busser|busboys]] for low wages and street toughs to double as waiters and bouncers. He locked exits, concealed others with draperies, and even bricked up one emergency exit to prevent customers from leaving without paying.<ref>"Sealed Grove 'Exit' Found, Quiz Head of License Board", ''The Boston American'', Dec. 12, 1942. p.1</ref>

Originally a garage and warehouse complex, the brick and concrete buildings which constituted the Cocoanut Grove had been converted to a one-and-a-half-story meandering complex of dining rooms, bars, and lounges. A lounge in an adjoining building had opened the week before the fire.<ref name = "Grove"/> The club offered its patrons dining and dancing in a South Seas-like "tropical paradise" with a roof that could be rolled back in summer for dancing under the stars.<ref name="BGThomas19921122"/><ref name = "Grove"/> The decor consisted of leatherette, rattan and bamboo coverings on the walls, heavy draperies, and dark blue satin canopies and covering on ceilings. Support columns in the main dining area were made to look like palm trees, with light fixtures made to look like coconuts. The theme was continued in the basement Melody Lounge, with what little light there was provided by palm tree light fixtures.