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Denver-Reading,
Pennsylvania -- 2180 N Reading Rd
AKA Reading-Lancaster |
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Built
in 1959, Denver was an early-standard Motor Lodge and Restaurant
Complex which unlike lodging facilities built today sprawled out
in a park-like setting and was adjacent to the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Long lived the Motor Lodge remained a HoJo's until 1992 and has
remarkably survived relatively intact as one the last examples of
its particular type.
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| Photograph
March 29, 2007 |
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| Image
from The Pennsylvania Turnpike: A History, by Dan Cupper:
page 43 |
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| Satellite
view © Microsoft Corp. |
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Above:
When the property was initially sited, it was convenient
to a nearby Turnpike interchange. The interchange itself
was an original 1930s design which was eventually overwhelmed
by increasing traffic and a new "modern" one came
to replace it a few miles further to the east. Investigating
the site after the highway realignment creates the impression
that it was an odd placement for the property, but having
knowledge of the original road layout easily explains why
the Howard Johnson's was built where it was--and perhaps
why it remained relatively unmolested for so long!
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Below:
Spotted by Mark Ihrie in the Antique Showcase at Black Horse
(an adjacent antique store owned by the former Motor Lodge's
now deceased proprietor) with a $700 price tag, the pricey
artifact came from the former Restaurant and had been displayed
on its front during the 1970s and '80s. |
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| Photograph
2003: Courtesy of Mark Ihrie |
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| Photographs
March 29, 2007 |
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As
the Black Horse, the Restaurant became a ridiculously over priced
eatery with a quasi-English theme. Inside, the Dairy Counter
area had been completely redone as a lounge or bar, but the
counter itself had been removed during the late 1970s and the
space was made into a small dining room during the Company's
misguided efforts to increase check totals (the bay window was
added at that time also). Interestingly the main dining room
contained most of its circa 1980 Landmark Supply booths, tables,
and chairs. Moreover ceiling lattice marked where the many sided
HoJo's salad bar had been.
Note
how the Orange Roof
was bleeding through!
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Above:
Recycled after the conversion, the former circa 1970s "Roof-logo"
street sign advertised the Black Horse. |
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