PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Demolition of the Melrose Diner in South Philly has begun. The electric sign was removed over the summer, but on Wednesday morning, neighbors came out to watch as, section by section, a backhoe knocked down the awning that bedecked the diner at the corner of Snyder and West Passyunk avenues for 87 years.
The iconic eatery has been closed since last year because of a kitchen fire, and the diner has been slated for demolition since July, but Cooper Snyder said activity has picked up in the past few weeks.
“I’ve been watching them take it down. Slowly they took down the signs a couple weeks ago,” he said.
Snyder lives nearby and says a lot of his neighbors are angry it’s being torn down.
“I mean, I remember when they were taking down the signs. An older woman was on the sidewalk, and she was just staring so forlornly, and she just said, ‘What a disgrace.’”
The Melrose opened to the public in the 1956, serving neighbors and tourists alike. It was even the site of a mob slaying in 1993.
Alana says the diner is a crucial part of this South Philadelphia neighborhood.
“It’s honestly pretty sad, because lots of generations of people have walked in and out of there.”
There are plans to build in its place a five-story apartment complex with a small diner on the first floor. A zoning permit for the site was issued in July, and the owner posted a message on Facebook, saying that the rumors of the diner's demise had been greatly exaggerated.
Synder says the plan to build apartments bothers him.
“They said they’re going to put a diner or whatever in there — and I guess that would be nice if they do, but it won’t be the same.”