Delco said goodbye to some local landmarks
When Delaware County Council Chairman Mario Civera called Winter Storm Jonas “not a storm that can be taken for granted” while outlining the county’s emergency preparations for the January blizzard, he could have easily been talking about the coming events of 2016. The year saw Delaware County become a microcosm of national presidential politics, environmental protests and state budget issues. Presidential campaign stops and Big 5 basketball brought the county into the national spotlight. It was the end for mainstays of retail business and politics and the beginning for newcomers. Here is look back at a year not to be taken for granted:
The first three months of the year brought a trifecta of endings for landmarks with a Media mailing address. The series opened in January with a final goodbye to Media’s Towne House restaurant after its late 2015 closure as the personal collection of late founder Silvio “Babe” D’Ignazio went to the auction block. Lifelong patron Angela Long of Ridley Township was among the nearly 200 people who turned out for items “from another time. You can’t get these things at Walmart.”
Monster blizzard strikes
Mother Nature opened the year with her 20th anniversary celebration of the Blizzard of ’96 as Winter Storm Jonas blanketed Delaware County with up to 2 feet of snow. The National Weather’s official count across the county border at the Philadelphia International 26.1 inches.
Major transportation modes were being shut down and various emergency declarations from the state to the local level were being made Friday, Jan. 22, in anticipation of high winds and wet, heavy snow, or what county Councilman John McBlain called “a recipe for disaster when it comes to power outages.”
With travel restrictions of the roadways and public transit suspended, silence enveloped the region on Saturday, replaced Sunday by the hum of snow blowers and scraping of shovels. School district made preemptive closures on Monday, but with travel restrictions lifted and public transit back to full or partial service, the region was able to start the business week largely unscathed by Jonas.
One couple that couldn’t wait for Monday to get out of the house was Cierra Chapman and her fiancé Khalil Womack Sr. as they Airport was rode through the blizzard Saturday in an ambulance to Delaware County Memorial Hospital. Chapman gave birth to twin boys via Cesarean section 3:51 p.m. and 3:55 p.m. as the storm continued its push for the 2 feet mark outside of the hospital.
Comings and goings
The first three months of the year brought a trifecta of endings for landmarks with a Media mailing address. The series opened in January with a final goodbye to Media’s Towne House restaurant after its late 2015 closure as the personal collection of late founder Silvio “Babe” D’Ignazio went to the auction block. Lifelong patron Angela Long of Ridley Township was among the nearly 200 people who turned out for items “from another time. You can’t get these things at Walmart.”
The last call rang out at the Plumstead Inn as the bar closed its doors for good in February after 56 years in the borough. Patrons had been turning out after the closing was announced in late 2015, many of them sharing the sentiment of regular Nate Hibberd, “It’s totally like ‘Cheers.’”
The trifecta finished in March over the border into Middletown Township when the announcement was made that the exterior demolition of the Granite Run Mall was imminent. After months of closed shops and interior demolition, the outside walls of the county shopping landmark finally met the wrecking ball. The 58acre space is set to become the Promendade at Granite Run, which will convert the mall space into a center for new apartment buildings, retail spaces, restaurants and entertainment spots to join the former anchor stores Boscov’s and Sears which are still open.
The same month as the Granite Run Mall reached the end of the road, nearby
REVIEW >> PAGE 5