Sewickley Country Inn Slated for Demolition
Tom Cruise filmed a car scene for 'Jack Reacher' at the former Country Inn. Borough officials say the structure on Ohio River Boulevard will come down.
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A Sewickley landmark, most recently featured in the Tom Cruise action movie Jack Reacher, is scheduled to be demolished soon, according to borough officials.
Sewickley Mayor Brian Jeffe said crews have been working since early January to remove asbestos from the former Sewickley Country Inn at 801 Ohio River Boulevard. Demolition is set for late January or early February.
Borough officials deemed the building to be hazardous and unsafe. Sewickley police have responded to several trespassing complaints at the property, most recently when officers had to escort a group of teens off the premises.
"As mayor, I couldn't permit the safety issue we have now," Jeffe said.
MCM Ventures, the propery developer, agreed to have the building torn down.
The inn has been tied up in litigation since 2010. That's when Michael Lyons of Sewickley filed a spot-zoning challenge against the zoning hearing board's decision to re-zone the property from single-family to multi-use, according to court documents.
The developer had proposed constructing two office buildings along the Route 65 portion and homes along the Thorn Street side.
In November, Commonwealth Court determined the zoning hearing board must consider the spot zoning claim.
Sewickley Solicitor Richard Tucker said the zoning board is scheduled to meet Feb. 5 on the matter. The property can be torn down in the meantime, he said.
The Country Inn, formerly a Holiday Inn, was a fixture in the community for about 50 years, serving as a hotel, restaurant and bar, and banquet facility.
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Do you have nostalgic memories of the former Sewickley Country Inn? Will you be sad to see it go? Tell us about it in the comment section below.
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Lucy Persuit
8:37 pm on Friday, January 18, 2013
yes! i spent many wonderful summers there in the diamond in the ruff!
John Linko
1:14 pm on Saturday, January 19, 2013
It was the Sewickley Motor Inn before it was a Holiday Inn. My first full-time job was there in 1979. I was a van driver, then worked the front desk. I met my first wife there. Aside from that, the one thing that really stuck out for me was the hotel's old plug-style switchboard. Answering calls on that, compared to answering them with a computer today, kind of makes me shake my head sometimes.
Richard E. Miller
1:21 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
Speaking of nostalgic...our wedding reception was there on July 11, 1964. Beautiful afternoon and we were on the conference area deck. My father loved the restaurant and we had lunch there often. Nice memories.
Dick Miller
L. Lee Bee
5:36 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
I cleaned rooms at the "Holiday Inn" one summer when I was in college. It was close to home and being the neatness-freak I was :o), thought it would be fun. HaaHaaHaa! Hard work - so much to do, never enough time to do it, no matter how fast you tried to move, PHEW! The full time ladies deserved much more pay than they got, but they were a dedicated group, they cleaned circles around me. Sort of miss the Holiday Inn heyday, lot of childhood vacations along the east coast spent in HI's .
LucyK
11:32 am on Tuesday, January 22, 2013
We used to hold our model horse show there for years! Wonderful memories!
Julia Canter (Grimes)
1:05 pm on Friday, February 1, 2013
I got married there in 1985 and they did a great job. The dinner reception was wonderful and made for warm memories of friends and family gathered together. My mom and dad used to love the restaurant. It's sad to see it deteriorate and be torn down, but it served the community well for many years.
Randy Martinez
7:54 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
I was a dish washer and buss boy '94 give or take a year. I worked with Willie, he taught me a lot in the kitchen. We rode the bus together after our shift back to Ambridge. Great memories there.