The renowned businessman Art Dore has passed away. He was known as a legend, a businessman, and a “tough man,” among other nicknames.
Kevin Novellino, owner of Brooklyn Boyz Pizza in the Midland Street business district said, “He was kind of a legend here in Bay City and Michigan, I think.”
According to many who knew him, the 86-year-old is credited with bringing a lot of business to Bay City. He will be sorely missed.
“I’ve Known Art for a very very long time,” said Seann McClelland, general manager River Rock Café, another Midland Street business. “I worked for him, I bartended at a couple of his bars and restaurants. Bay City lost a legend today. He’s done so much for this community and he’s going to be very missed.”
“Always had some words of wisdom for me some advice as a new business owner after moving here 20 years ago,” Novellino said. “And always had questions for me too, always was interested in my opinion, and for a guy that was so successful to be interested in my opinion meant a lot to me as well.”
In his lifetime, Dore owned a number of companies, including the Saginaw Valley Golf Course and the Prime Event Center. Additionally, he was the owner of several pubs on Midland Street.
Dore was a skilled boxer who is credited with making Bay City’s Toughman Boxing into a global spectacle.
“He brought a lot of good things to the community, and we wish the family well,” said Janey Ruggiero, owner of O’Hare’s Bar and Grill.
‘Good policies must be based on good evidence’ -Jack Diamond
At the 2014 Heritage Toronto Awards, Diamond gave the William Kilbourn Memorial Lecture.
He discussed the necessity of investing in a “long-range” strategy for public infrastructure, including but not limited to public housing and transit, for Toronto and Canada as a whole in it. He said that the city needed to recommit to building capacity and making investments in the future.
“Our leadership hasn’t understood that and in fact they go on about cutting taxes. I think that what we need is tax value, not tax cuts.”
“There’s a mentality now that goes on simple slogans or a kind of negativity rather than looking at what the evidence is,” he said.
“I have a long list of where we have lost our way in Canada over the past eight years,” he said, pointing to cuts to Health Canada, Environment Canada among other examples.
“Good policies must be based on good evidence. Democracy requires an informed electorate.”
A brief flashback to Art Dore’s Early life
Dore was raised by his parents, Art, and Genevieve, on a farm in the Kawkawlin tribe. Dore’s father was a fight lover who hurried the family to finish their duties early so they could listen to Joe Louis fights on the radio, according to the Bay City Times archives.
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Art Dore’s career as a Businessman
Dore also ran the prosperous demolition company Dore & Associates, which expanded considerably. The Times stated in 2014 that Dore’s business had acquired a massive East Coast demolition firm with more than $100 million in annual revenues.
As a young man, Dore worked for organizations like General Motors and Dow Chemical before making a career change and becoming a successful businesswoman. He told The Times that he “was at the right location at the right time” when asked how he got his start in the demolition business as a 21-year-old.
As we move forward, Dore recognized an opportunity when a highway connecting Bay City to Midland was being built, but there were homes in the route that had to be removed. To cut a long story short, Dore took the chance, purchased the buildings, and manually demolished them. The rest is history, and Dore’s corporate empire and career started to soar.
Dore was not only a business fighter; he was also a legitimate boxer. He expanded the Toughman Contest, which he and fellow Hall of Famer Dean Oswald started in Bay City in 1979. People from all walks of life entered the ring for grassroots boxing as Toughman Boxing swept the nation.
