Raising a fuss about the possible razing of another classic property in Hershey
A developer wants to raze this 1930 building at Chocolate and Ridge avenues and replace it with a chain restaurant.
In November, someone posted a silent home video to YouTube of the December 1970 implosion of the former Cocoa Inn in downtown Hershey.
“Why did they implode it?,” asked one of the commenters. “Seemed like a beautiful building.”
It was. And it had a great history, originally home to apartments for Hershey chocolate workers and the Hershey Department Store before evolving into a hotel.
We have a photo of my late mother-in-law, Dolores Sides, all of 17, standing outside what was then the Community Inn with a girlfriend and Hershey Bears hockey player Pete Babando.
Today, a realigned Cocoa Avenue runs through that property, which before that was a strip center.
I thought of the Cocoa Inn’s demolition in late July as a proposal emerged publicly to tear down another piece of Hershey history one block west at 146-150 W. Chocolate Ave.
Developer Jeff Roth, who owns a Fudduckers hamburger franchise in Hershey, wants to raze this 1930 brick gem, a former residential duplex converted to shared offices, to make room for a Tikka Shack Indian chain restaurant.
The Tikka Shack architect discounted the historic significance of the building, but there is no doubt about its geographic prominence. It is a gateway to downtown’s most vital commercial block, complete with a silver Hershey’s Kiss street light in front. Dramatically alter or raze that building and you will irrevocably change that side of the block.
Derry Township’s Downtown Core Design Board voted against the demolition proposal, which the developers now can take to the board of supervisors for their consideration.
From our front porch, my wife, Sara, and I can see the back of this building, the yellow Skyrush rollercoaster from Hersheypark arching high above it in the distance. We moved downtown in 2020 in large measure because of its historic charm.
Our bungalow was built in 1931. We were fortunate in that so much of our house’s original construction remains intact. We’ve stayed true to what we inherited with period-appropriate renovations that are ongoing. We see ourselves as stewards of a property that we hope will long outlive us.
Sense of place
Old buildings present challenges, to be sure. But they give a community character, squeaky floors, uneven plaster walls and all. It’s the history and the stories associated with those buildings that give a town its unique sense of place.
Sure, it would be easier for Tikka Shack to start from scratch, but the developer’s own engineering report acknowledges that the building is structurally sound.
I’m not necessarily opposed to a Tikka Shack or another chain restaurant occupying 146-150 W. Chocolate Ave., although I’d prefer a locally based entity. But whatever the use, why can’t it repurpose the existing building in a creative way?
I think about how McDonald’s opened a restaurant in a converted Victorian mansion down the road from L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine.
“We are willing to spend the money to make it compatible with the area, the history, the community and the people who live there,'' a McDonald’s spokesman said in 1984. Nearly 40 years later, McDonald’s is still there.
Hershey has lost too many historic properties already, from the Cocoa House (later the Men’s Club and then the Women’s Club) in 1963 to the Cocoa Inn in 1970 to the Hershey Creamery in 1986.
The original chocolate factory was razed a decade ago but with the promise that the site would be redeveloped for restaurants, retail and entertainment.
“We feel very positive that the site will not sit empty for very long,” said Tim Leh, Hershey Co.’s director of strategic sourcing, in a December 2013 Pennlive story.
Nearly a decade later, the site is home to a soccer field and expansive parking lot. No one talks about the mixed-use plans any longer.
A recent trend in Hershey is the seemingly overnight demolition of homes, many of them on stately Elm Avenue, to be replaced by ever-larger, architecturally schizophrenic homes that often dwarf the ones next to them.
The Hershey History Center has taken a small step toward addressing the problem of what it calls a “familiar practice” of home and building demolition in Hershey. The nonprofit created an online petition.
“The intent is to raise awareness that the character of our downtown neighborhoods need to be preserved and that doing so protects the value of all properties,” according to Hershey History Center.
Repurposed buildings
Our community would be best served by tapping the brakes on all of the tearing down.
There should be nothing inevitable about the demise of decades-old buildings. And we shouldn’t overlook the multiple recent examples of buildings being repurposed while preserving Hershey’s history:
The 1916 Hershey Press Building, later Hershey Department Store, underwent exhaustive renovations and opened in 2006 as Houlihan’s Restaurant + Bar. It later added Devon Seafood & Steak as a tenant.
The former Curry Mill sat mostly vacant for 40 years until opening in 2014 as The Mill restaurant on the west side of downtown.
Hidden Still Spirits, a craft distillery and restaurant, opened in February in a former Hershey Co. factory built in 1941. “The integrity of the brick facades (has) been kept intact,” according to a Pennlive story.
Dating to 1936, the former Hershey post office, and before that the Hershey Abbatoir, is close to opening as Fresh Market at Hershey Town Square, offering more than 40 vendors of locally grown produce, meats, baked goods and fresh meals.
I would ask Roth, the developer behind the Tikka Shack proposal, to consider those projects as he moves forward with his. In each of those cases, new construction would have been easier but far less rewarding.
No one dining or imbibing at Houlihan’s, Devon, The Mill or Hidden Still Spirits wishes they were in a new building with no history or character. Each of those restaurants is more valuable because of, not in spite of, the fact that they are located in historically significant buildings.
As someone who is doing his small part to preserve Hershey’s housing stock, I wish Roth could appreciate the view from our front porch. He might get a new perspective on the nearly century-old gem at 146-150 W. Chocolate Ave. that he owns and should preserve.