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Farewell Vale
The Vale-Rio finally moved this morning, after remaining nearly 60 years at its former location on 494 Nutt Road.
The diner only moved about one mile, yet it was still a momentous occassion. Some would call it an ordeal, due to confusion over its permit and getting stuck in the mud on Francis Puleo's property.
Still, its gone, at least until Puleo successfully manages to the get the diner re-opened. Meanwhile, a Walgreens and Starbucks will open on the Vale's former property and that of The Fountain Inn once it closes this weekend.
I don't know if Puleo will be successful, due to a hurdle of zoning challenges he faces in getting that diner opened on his property. But it will be interesting to see if he is.
Do you miss the Vale, or have a favorite memory of your time there? Or are you ambivalent (perhaps even supportive) of the diner's closing? Do we really need a Walgreens or Starbucks here in Phoenixville?
Posted by
Brian McCarthy
The diner only moved about one mile, yet it was still a momentous occassion. Some would call it an ordeal, due to confusion over its permit and getting stuck in the mud on Francis Puleo's property.
Still, its gone, at least until Puleo successfully manages to the get the diner re-opened. Meanwhile, a Walgreens and Starbucks will open on the Vale's former property and that of The Fountain Inn once it closes this weekend.
I don't know if Puleo will be successful, due to a hurdle of zoning challenges he faces in getting that diner opened on his property. But it will be interesting to see if he is.
Do you miss the Vale, or have a favorite memory of your time there? Or are you ambivalent (perhaps even supportive) of the diner's closing? Do we really need a Walgreens or Starbucks here in Phoenixville?
Posted by
Brian McCarthy
posted by The Phoenix Files at
5:53 PM
12 Comments:
I think I'm okay with a starbucks because it can flow with the historic charm of the existing Fountain Inn Building. But why a Walgreens? Do citizens have a say in what goes there? Do we really need a Walgreens, a CVS (new cunstruction at 113 and 23) AND an Eckerds all withing 1 mile. Me, I'll stick with the neighborhood Pharmacy, Gateway.
anonymous 9:32 am,
you post a juicy nugget like that without posting a link!k
What kind of "say" should citizens have? It's privately owned land. If the building and business meets the zoning requirements, they can build it.
The "citizens" can't just say "we want a TGI Friday's there" and require TGI Friday's to build there.
It's not the Soviet Union, no matter how many people long for it to be...
you're absolutely right that they can do whatever they want within the constraints of the zoning, so then wouldn't the next step be for us to tell our borough council to tighten up zoning ordinances?
boycott starbucks,i can not afford it anyway,,,or sell starbucks coffee at valero
I moved to Phoenixville from Colorado in 1989. It was like dying and going to hell. I am in favor of anything that makes this little town more esthetically pleasing. The Fountain Inn was a smoke-filled dump. I'm not sentimental about diners. This one had a filthy bathroom, so what was the kitchen like? No, we don't need another pharmacy, but just like the intersection of Pawlings and Egypt Road in Audubon, anything is an improvement. Get with it, Phoenixville. We all want our property values to go up. Stop whining about change and just see it as inevitable, and welcome.
Than why did you stay? I think you should go back to hell or heaven , just leave! Please.... Did anyone ever welcome you back in 89 , most likey not , sounds like you think your all that and some yellow snow.AND WHY DO YOU STAY . YEA I THOUGHT SO.
I don't know BUT, I find it hard to believe that storing the old diner on the Puleo Nutt & Starr property is legal. Can any of us do that? Even if its just "temporary"? If I was a neighbor I'd be very upset that it was there. And to suggest it could be there permanently is a real fantasy. Traffic would be out of control unless major intersection work were done, there is no room for parking, and I truly believe Puleo just took the best money deal with no intention of ever reopening the diner. If he cared, he would have sold the business right where it was. I'm sure there are many folks who would love to have owned and run it. He's only saying what he thinks we want to hear so he's not critisized for taking the money and running. Its a shame really. The diner will be sorely missed.
I agree with the last anonymous post. Puleo took the money and ran. Hopefully people are crying at the loss of a building and NOT for the building owner. I've driven by the 'new location'. What a dirty, dumpy mess that old diner is. It looked 'ok' at its last location because the surrounding buildings were dumps, but in a better section of town- ugh. People ATE in that place? The new location puts it all in perspective.
Time to get the Borough Code Officer in on this back yard monstrosity.
I can't keep cars or trucks that are in better shape in MY back yard.
Where is this guy when you need him?
put it across from iron hill, give pullyeo a tax break for the land. it would complement the blob theater. Or give the diner a piece of the dirt across from the steel mill in the flood plain. Maybe the tex mex brisket on barto's lot would like to buy it and run the vale rio tex mex- that stretch of road is kinda bleak ( with the exception of nudys)
Great we have about 7 places that we can order a $4 pint, now we have $4 coffee... Council raising our taxes 30% in two years!!!
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