Abbondonza Pizzeria has shut its doors after more than a decade in downtown Longmont.

“Thanks for 12 great years,” owner Bob Goff, a former Longmont Downtown Development Authority board member, posted on Facebook.

Attempts to reach Goff were unsuccessful Friday, but the new owners of the building, and the business, were already in there Friday afternoon working on the changeover to their restaurant: Rosalee’s Pizzeria.

“The beauty is, this is a turnkey,” said James Ross, who’s opening the restuarant with his wife, Amy.

The two Longmont residents have been planning to open their own restaurant for several years, but getting the funding together and finding the right location took time, they said.

“We’ve had this vision in our head for a long time,” Amy Ross said, explaining that their garage is filled with furnishings they snagged from estate sales and flea markets the past couple of years. Now they finally have a place to put everything they’ve been gathering, they said.

The two had been looking at other locations but had heard that Abbondanza’s owner might be considering selling. After making contact and some back-and-forth negotiating, both sides were able to come to an agreement in May, and the building became theirs just this week.

“It’s amazing how much debt you can get yourself into,” said James Ross, probably only semi-jokingly. But both he and Amy said they were particularly thankful that High Plains Bank shared their vision of a successful pizzeria.

Plus, Amy Ross said, the pair have a solid business plan and financial plan for making the restaurant work.

James and Amy Ross met in Denver several years ago while both were attending culinary school. After they graduated they both went to work for Whole Foods and Amy kept working there while James got a job tending bar at Left Hand Brewing Co., “to get to know the comunity and, for both of us, to kind of get a pulse of what’s going on,” Amy said.

Their plans are to make Rosalee’s to be a community hub, they say, and serve as a gathering place for people who like music and Colorado craft beers, which will be a featured part of the experience. They also plan on bringing in a couple pinball machines. But at the heart of it all will be the pizza.

“We did a 15-pizzeria recon (trip) to all five boroughs of New York City,” James Ross said, and that was only one of the trips they took back east. They took notes on everything, he said: from the food to the decor to the menu layout and even the ingredients different parlors were using, when they could steal a glimpse.

What they promise at Rosalee’s is “Old World, East Coast-style Pizza,” according to their website rosaleespizzeria.com. The pair say they hope to be open by late August.

Contact Times-Call staff writer Tony Kindelspire at 303-684-5291 or tkindelspire@times-call.com