21 - Living up to his reputation

Rudy Bratty takes his Friulian work ethic to heart when developing projects

People from Friuli waste no words. Used to working hard, they prefer to have deeds speak for them. Even though he's a Canadian, Rudy Bratty is no exception because his father left him a legacy of passion for work and modesty.
Even if, when Rudy Bratty the lawyer enters the temples of finance on Bay Street, people stand up for him. I ask him: What is it that makes you proudest? And I'm expecting him to mention at least one of the buildings he built in Toronto, contributing to its transformation into a metropolis. Instead, he merely says: "The reputation I built by working hard since my youth."
Friulians are like this. It doesn't matter whether what they accomplished was big or small, whether it will make history or last only one day, because they do it with the same care. What matters to them is the respect a well-done job deserves.
Friulians rebuilt their region, devastated by an earthquake in 1976, within one year, but if you congratulate them for this accomplishment they'll reply: "What should we have done? Wait for years till someone else came and rebuilt our homes?" The reasoning is sound, and it gained the Friulians respect in Italy and abroad.
The project Bratty is currently working on is located on a wide area (14 acres) on Caledonia Road where the old Spar plant (aeronautical engineering) stood. The "Canadarm," the mobile mechanical arm mounted on space shuttles, was designed and built right here. Spar packed up and moved to Montreal's space centre, and Bratty bought the land in partnership with builder Murray Goldman, and had bulldozers raze the old factory.
Bratty intends to build a large centre for homebuilders and renovators. A sort of huge depot, where people who need to build, restructure, or finish a house can find all they need: doors, windows, bathroom fixtures, down to doorknobs and even to those specific screws needed to hang pictures from drywall. A project in line with the spirit of North American pioneers, used to build their own homes, but also with new European trends, since such supermarkets of DYO houses are beginning to also appear in Italy, France, Germany and the UK.
The project completed its bureaucratic path. Some more months will be needed to complete the final checks, then construction will begin. Estimated date of completion: 2001. Meanwhile, bulldozers have torn everything down. Where the buildings of the Spar factory once proudly stood, now only piles of rocks and rubble await, ready to be recycled into the new structure's reinforced concrete as soon as the snow and cold of these days will be replaced by more agreeable weather.
"No, this isn't the biggest job I've done. On the contrary, it's one of the small or medium sized ones, if we just think of Erin Mills, the 30,000-house neighbourhood some partners and I built in Mississauga," Bratty says. "But this is one of the most stimulating because it is almost a turning point in my activity: from big residential complexes to big complexes with everything for the residents."
Where I come from, they used to say that your father's job is half learned. We can say you learned your father's job very well.
"If it pleases you, you can say so. Let's say I did both what my parents wanted and what I wanted. They wanted me to become a lawyer, so I graduated in law and even practiced; I wanted to become a real estate developer. You know, my folks came here from San Giorgio della Rechinvelda in 1927. My father was a peasant in Friuli; once here, he found a job in construction. At the time, Toronto was little more than a fairly sized town. My father told me that when he arrived, sidewalks were made of wood, like many houses. The town did not reach beyond today's Bloor Street. But even then the idea of what was to become Toronto was quite clear."
So there were jobs, and this was important for people who had escaped poverty. Those years were really dramatic, in Italy, even after the victory of World War I.
"Yes, there were jobs here, but you had to work hard. My father never spared himself; he made it, for sure, and could afford to send me to university, but all of us did our bit. I remember helping out on a construction site when I was seven. This is how we grew up in our family, because nothing came as a gift: we gained everything we got. Just like my father did: he had 15 brothers and sisters, very little could be hoped for. With his work he got a position and a reputation, and he was among the first to build a community building: the Italian-Canadian Recreation Centre on Brandon Avenue, the first meeting point for Italians who were coming here in increasing numbers and looked for fellow nationals to break their loneliness and find help. Especially at that time, there was a great sense of solidarity among Italian immigrants. For instance, it was natural for an Italian needing a suit to go to an Italian tailor, or if needing a house to go to an Italian builder. That's how my father built houses and stores. But he didn't limit himself to Italians: his mastery made him appreciated also by Anglo-Saxons. He built some of the most exclusive residences in Forest Hill. When I graduated I was helped by his reputation, and it wasn't difficult to find customers among the entrepreneurs and at the same time to devote myself to the construction business, striving every day to respect my father's reputation and build my own. This is my story."
If one wants to mention only the bare essentials, maybe your story is just this. But you built the Columbus Centre and Villa Colombo, the home of Italians in Toronto. They aren't just buildings, they're the tangible signs of our presence in Canada.
"There were nine of us in 1978, when we built the Columbus Centre and Villa Colombo, and many more underwriters. There was Fred De Gasperis, Marco Muzzo, Elvio Dal Zotto, Orey Fidani, Joseph Carrier, Consiglio Di Nino, Joseph Chiappetta, and Anthony Fusco, the untiring animator of that project. Italians had become so numerous, and the Brandon Avenue Centre couldn't cope with all of them. Then, as numbers grew, they formed regional associations, such as the Famee Furlane. In summary, we lacked a place where Italians could get together as Italians, and not as Calabrians, Friulians, Sicilians and so on. But even more than that, we needed a structure that could adequately represent the weight our community was acquiring in this city. In order to let you understand what the Anglo-Saxons thought about us at the time, I'll quote you a sentence by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney at the Columbus Centre: 'One or two generations ago, Italians built Toronto; this generation owns it.' Well, I had the luck to work in this particular point in time."
You're a successful man, and success is generally gauged by wealth. What does wealth mean for you?
"I'll answer your question with something my father used to say: 'When you know what poverty means, you never feel rich.' Do you understand?"
Do you feel more Friulian or more Italian?
"Keep in mind that I've known Friuli more from my parents' tales than in person. I went there several times, it's true, but Friuli to me is more a form of education, a culture, than a faraway homeland. I can tell you, however, that as time goes by I feel more and more Italian. I cared little for such things until some years ago; then I discovered the pleasure, or the need if you prefer, to have roots, and came to the conclusion that being Italian includes being Friulian. And in a more mature age I realized why Friulians remain so connected to their land."
Why?
"Because Friuli is not just a region; it's a form of education to work. And only work can make you really succeed. A successful Friulian cannot forget whence he came. Take my word for it, the word of someone who knows very little about Friuli, but very much about what it represents."
Involved as you are in your work and your company, Bratty & Partners, where did you find the time to have a family?
"Oh, I found it all right. I married Katherine in 1964. She was a very fascinating woman. She worked as a model, appearing in TV commercials. Our marriage is a happy one. Five children were born: Matthew, now 32, Marc, 30, Christopher, 29, Michael, 27, and Jennifer, 22. My four sons work with me in the construction business; after all, as you said, your father's job is half learned. But I must say that my boys learned it well."
Going back to my first question, Mr. Bratty: reputation aside, what's the building that makes you proudest?
"The Embassy Suites in Markham, a 350,000 square feet building, elegant and functional. But why are you saying 'reputation aside'? To me, reputation comes first and foremost, the rest is merely a consequence."

(translated by Emanuele Oriano)

Publication Date: 2002-12-22
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2196