#3 (Kidder St) recently made the news. Kind of.
The link: Shuttered W-B restaurant demolished
The excerpt: The closed Mark II Family Restaurant on Kidder Street in Wilkes-Barre was demolished Thursday.
Owner Jack Williams said the former restaurant was beyond repair. The roof was filled with holes and water seeped inside. People vandalized the building and stole its copper, plumbing and wiring, he said.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to sell the property and someone else will be able to put a new building up or do something with it," he said.
In my mind, they did not demolish Mark II. Rather, they demolished Franklin's. And my alma mater, no less.
As the only store of the original 12 not converted to a Friendly's, Kidder Street was closed on December 30, 1990. Actually, it was an Apples before Mark II bought the property from Tom Heck, the long-time owner.
The history: It originally opened as The Carousel Restaurant, date unknown. Sometime during the 1960s, Elby's Big Boy leased it. Then, in the early 1970s came Franklin's #3 to be followed by 9 others. When the Franklin's logo was taken down in 1990 only to be confiscated by me (still have it), it became the short-lived Apples Restaurant. And that's when Mark II bought the property.
Of all the stores I worked in, this one was my home. I was hired as a short-order cook in November 1978 at this store. I became an assistant manager at this store in March of 1980. And after a few tours of duty in other local units, I returned as general manager in early 1987.
While the brick and mortar may have been carted off, the many memories will always remain.
Mark
The link: Shuttered W-B restaurant demolished
The excerpt: The closed Mark II Family Restaurant on Kidder Street in Wilkes-Barre was demolished Thursday.
Owner Jack Williams said the former restaurant was beyond repair. The roof was filled with holes and water seeped inside. People vandalized the building and stole its copper, plumbing and wiring, he said.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to sell the property and someone else will be able to put a new building up or do something with it," he said.
In my mind, they did not demolish Mark II. Rather, they demolished Franklin's. And my alma mater, no less.
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| April 1, 2011 |
The history: It originally opened as The Carousel Restaurant, date unknown. Sometime during the 1960s, Elby's Big Boy leased it. Then, in the early 1970s came Franklin's #3 to be followed by 9 others. When the Franklin's logo was taken down in 1990 only to be confiscated by me (still have it), it became the short-lived Apples Restaurant. And that's when Mark II bought the property.
Of all the stores I worked in, this one was my home. I was hired as a short-order cook in November 1978 at this store. I became an assistant manager at this store in March of 1980. And after a few tours of duty in other local units, I returned as general manager in early 1987.
While the brick and mortar may have been carted off, the many memories will always remain.
Mark
I'm trying to find information on the tigers that were in a cage behind the restaurant in the early 80's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing it's really helpful
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing.
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