Thursday, January 24, 2008
Asbury Park, Then&Now
So what kind of difference can two years make to a town struggling to regain its tourist trade on the Jersey Shore? Let's take a look.
One of the most iconic pieces of Architecture in Asbury Park was the modern Howard Johnson's that lived on the boardwalk for decades. After falling on hard times, the building, part of the "Fifth Avenue Pavilion" had really begun to deteriorate. The HoJo still opened, but it was what you remembered in name only. Possibly the food was the same too, my single experience at the old Howard Johnson made me think they were still using the same meat from the last time they opened it, years before. Here it is in April of 2006.
A new restaurant and a new attitude for this pavilion has shown up since 2006. This is how it looks today.
It's more than a fresh coat of paint too. The building has been rehabbed and the inside gutted and rebuilt. The old Howard Johnson's is now the Salt Water Cafe, an upscale restaurant on the shore. In its first summer it did so well, that the restaurant is surprisingly still open for the winter, despite every other business on the boardwalk shuttered til summer approaches. The one sad thing is that the walkway that hikes up the restaurant's side is still broken. It leads to a second story bandshell that sits atop the pavilion, but is currently unsafe. There are plans to remodel this bandshell and reopen it for events, but this promise has been made for years, with few results as far as the bandshell has gone.
One of the most iconic pieces of Architecture in Asbury Park was the modern Howard Johnson's that lived on the boardwalk for decades. After falling on hard times, the building, part of the "Fifth Avenue Pavilion" had really begun to deteriorate. The HoJo still opened, but it was what you remembered in name only. Possibly the food was the same too, my single experience at the old Howard Johnson made me think they were still using the same meat from the last time they opened it, years before. Here it is in April of 2006.
A new restaurant and a new attitude for this pavilion has shown up since 2006. This is how it looks today.
It's more than a fresh coat of paint too. The building has been rehabbed and the inside gutted and rebuilt. The old Howard Johnson's is now the Salt Water Cafe, an upscale restaurant on the shore. In its first summer it did so well, that the restaurant is surprisingly still open for the winter, despite every other business on the boardwalk shuttered til summer approaches. The one sad thing is that the walkway that hikes up the restaurant's side is still broken. It leads to a second story bandshell that sits atop the pavilion, but is currently unsafe. There are plans to remodel this bandshell and reopen it for events, but this promise has been made for years, with few results as far as the bandshell has gone.
Labels: asbury park, transformations, travel
Roger, 12:11 AM
