Rob S. Frey, Jr. choked up recently as he talked about the historic Bloomingdale house in Springettsbury Township that his great-grandfather built as a summer home and that subsequent generations, including himself, enjoyed living in.
He shared memories of crawling on a big stone underneath the building, lowering plastic toy soldiers with a string from the third to the first floor and playing in the huge attic that had old Victrolas and furniture.
The large white house at 3405 E. Market St. is one of several historic structures, including the Modernaire Motel, that will be razed if plans for a shopping center with a Wawa, restaurants and apartments come to fruition.
Township supervisors recently granted approval for a conditional use for Mount Zion Commons on the corner of East Market Street and Mount Zion Road. It falls in the municipality's town center overlay, which has special requirements for development.
With the board's recent decision, the developer now can start the land development process and obtain permits for it.
Frey and his wife, Sally, knew that the area eventually was going to be redeveloped. Nearly a decade ago, another developer proposed a shopping center in the same spot, but the township turned down a rezoning request.
"I'm not really trying to fight it," Rob Frey said. "I just want to see how you can restore or maintain the history of the area."
Bloomingdale estate dates to the 1800s
Rob Frey's great-great-grandfather, Charles Weiser, purchased 37 acres in 1848 for a summer estate in what is now Springettsbury Township. His sons, Charles S. Weiser and John A. Weiser, built houses on the property, according to local historian Stephen H. Smith.
The Bloomingdale house, built in 1887 or earlier, and the estate received its name from Charles S. Weiser, Frey's great-grandfather and one of Springettsbury's most prominent residents. The Weisers were bankers and business owners, Smith wrote.
Generations of decendants resided at Bloomingdale, which featured the main house and a back extension. Rob Frey, his wife and their first son, Rob Frey III, lived in a second-floor apartment until the father's job was transferred.
The house features an old "Bloomingdale" sign embedded in an outside stone step and stained glass windows, made by Rudy Brothers, on the second floor of the house.
Years ago, the family applied to have the house placed on the National Register of Historic Preservation, and it was accepted, Rob Frey said. However, they didn't follow through because nothing was imminent at the time. The couple also noted that wouldn't have necessarily saved the home.
The couple didn't buy the house when it became part of the estate with his sisters. The two had young children at the time and maintaining the big, old structure would become a commitment.
The family did save some furniture from the Bloomingdale house, including a sideboard, as well as an old kennel sign.
An antique clock that belonged to Frey's great-great-grandfather, Charles Weiser, who lived in a house where the Yorktowne Hotel now stands, sits in the couple's home as it was handed down through generations.
The family sold Bloomingdale in the late 1990s to a man who took care of it. But the property exchanged hands more than a decade later, and the house has been in decline.
"Rob doesn't look at it when we drive by," Sally Frey said.
Rob Frey took exception with a piece of correspondence read into the record at a recent township meeting about the proposed shopping center. A local business wrote about the vacant motel and the poorly maintained buildings, saying the corner is becoming an embarrassment to a gateway intersection in the municipality.
Rob Frey said the historic structures are facing demolition by neglect.
Saving pieces of history from Modernaire Motel
The Pennsylvania chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association also is looking to see what it can preserve from the Modernaire Motel, which dates to the 1940s, if it is torn down, president Tom Davidson said.
The motel was built with its curved brick facade to attract travelers driving on the coast-to-coast highway.
"There's more and more of these roadside attractions that are disappearing," he said.
The chapter has saved other artifacts, such as the neon sign from the Cross Keys Diner, that was put on display at the Lincoln Highway Experience in Latrobe, Pa.
With the Modernaire Motel, the state chapter is looking to save the old sign and the lettering on the curved facade to help preserve its history, Davidson said. He doesn't know what might remain inside.
Details will have to be worked out, such as how much it would cost to restore the sign and where it would be displayed for the public to see, he said.
Preserving the memory of a historical area in Springettsbury Township
Rob Frey said it would be neat if some signs or roadside plaques could be installed to commemorate what stands there now and its history.
The couple also would like to see some pieces of Bloomingdale preserved.
Rob Frey said it seems like communities are getting rid of their history.
"Once it's gone, it'll be gone forever," he said.
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