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Old Howard Johnson's comes down, makes way for region's new economy

Ellen Abbott
/
WRVO News
Demolition of the old Howard Johnson's in the town of DeWitt.

The era of Howard Johnson’s Restaurants and Motor Lodges is long gone. But a vestige of the one of the largest hospitality chains in the country remained for years in central New York, on Carrier Circle in DeWitt. Now, after years of negotiation, a deal has been struck that allows access to the property, so the iconic orange roof has finally come down.

The ubiquitous orange tiles violently slid off the roof during Friday’s demolition of the former restaurant and motor lodge. During it’s heyday, the lure of fried clam strips and 28 flavors of ice cream drew thousands to these restaurants. When wind of the demolition got out, project manager Todd Platten got calls from collectors hoping to snag some of those one-of-a-kind bright orange roof tiles.

"We’ll try to salvage some if we can, but we’re not going to risk our lives for some roof tiles. I don’t know what value they have other than nostolgia,” said Platten.

Nostalgia aside, the demolition of the hotel, built in 1961 and closed for a decade, also puts an exclamation point on a changing economy in the town of DeWitt. The town was once home to thousands of manufacturing jobs at companies like Carrier and New Process Gear.

"Many communities went through that transition away from manufacturing in the ‘70s and ‘80s. We were fortunate in the fact that many of our manufacturing jobs hung in there. The problem is the last 10 to 20 years, they have left the area, and so now we are undergoing a transition to a new economy,” said DeWitt Town Supervisor Ed Michaelenko.

The irony is, that Howard Johnson’s would have fit right in with that new economy. Tourism is the reason more than 30 hotels populate the area near Carrier Circle, including two new ones that will be built on the former Howard Johnson’s property. Construction of a 78-room Home 2 Suites is expected to start early next year.

Michaelenko says after losing all those large manufacturing businesses, the town has again become a significant contributor to the tax base, bringing approximateely $3.5 million dollars a year in hotel taxes to Onondaga County, which is about half of the total dollar amount in hotel taxes the county collects. The town, meantime, continues to plan for a future that takes advanage of the booming hotel business.

"The push that we’re making in the Carrier Park project and trying to foster other development, is something that is synergistic with those hotels. And so the economy in this area is looking up.”

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.