PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The surprise announcement that the Cedars House cafe, in Wissahickon Valley Park, is closing this month has prompted an outpouring of sadness and outrage from park visitors. However, the building’s landlord, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, says it could be back up and running as early as this summer, though with a new operator.
The Cedars House is one of several historic buildings in the park, which sits between Chestnut Hill and Roxborough, but one of the few with amenities for visitors. The park is perhaps best known for the Valley Green Inn, in the heart of the park. The Cedars House sits at the park’s Northwestern Avenue terminus.
It became a cafe in 2010 when a neighbor, Ricki Eisenstein, signed a 15-year lease to operate in the building, after an extensive process and personal investments.
“We had signatures from all of our neighbors, we got all of our approvals,” she said. “When I took over, it was almost abandoned. The front porch had fallen off. It had holes in the floors. For years, nobody had been occupying it.”
Eisenstein ran the cafe for seven years then sold the business. She said there were repeated efforts in the next eight years to get the lease transferred to the new operator but none succeeded. With the lease expiring this month, the current operator was told she had to vacate the building.
She posted the news on social media and scores of patrons responded with anger and concern, questioning why the conservancy couldn’t let her stay.
“It’s a public asset,” explains the conservancy’s interim CEO Tim Clair. “We have to go through a process to find a new tenant.”
The conservancy posted a request for expressions of interest on its website.
Clair assures that the intention is for the Cedars House to remain a cafe. He says the conservancy will take the opportunity to address some deferred maintenance to make sure it’s in top condition when it reopens, which he says could be by this summer.
The current operator declined an interview request but emailed that the financial backing required for the new lease is “too much for us.”
“We do not blame the conservancy and wish them well in finding someone willing to love the space as much as we do,” she wrote.
That is Eisenstein’s wish too.
“It’s such a great, wonderful asset to the park,” she said. “I feel proud of it, like it was one of my babies.”