The "You Call This Progress?" Story

The East side of the 100 Block of North Queen Street.

It was an ordinary day.  Just got a reply back from Jack Brubaker who writes a column in the Lancaster  newspaper called "The Scribbler."  He talks about things in the past which is right down my alley.  I sent an email to him asking if he remembered a novelty store in the 2nd block of North Queen Street by the name of Seinfelds.  It was a favorite of mine when I sang in the boy's choir at St. James Church.  Days of choir practice I would head to the store for items such as candy, balloons and the neatest Mexican Jumping Beans.  Oh, the memories!  Jack finally replied that he had no information on the store or if it really was called Seinfelds.  So I started to do some more research to see if I could find the store which no longer exists.  Didn't have much luck but I did learn a tremendous amount about the demolition of the 100 block of North Queen Street in the 1960s where Seinfelds originally was located.  In July of 1965 the Lancaster Redevelopment Authority authorized the demolition of the 100 block of North Queen Street even though the alleged developer had withdrawn from the project.  Mayor George Coe still thought it was a good idea and that a new developer could be found, especially with an area that was vacant of buildings.  So in the summer of 1965 demolition on the west side of North Queen began.  A 1890 hotel originally called the Wheatland, but now The Earle Hotel, was razed in September of '65.  Then the YMCA building that was on the corner of North Queen and West Orange Streets and was designed by Lancaster's C. Emlen Urban in the late 1900s bit the dust.  It wasn't until May 2, 1967 that the demolition of another one of Urban's designs, the historical Brunswick Hotel, was begun.  I can still remember standing across the street from the entrance of the hotel on East Chestnut Street and watching the huge wrecking ball knock the building down.  In front of the demolition was a sign that read, "Tearing Down -- to make way for progress."  On the 100 block of North Queen Street stood four movie theaters, three hotels, the Northern Trust & Savings Company and various other retail stores of which Seinfelds was one.  Eventually Victor Gruen and Associates, who was a pioneer in the design of shopping malls, designed what was known as Lancaster Square.  His philosophy was to build away from the road to allow for pedestrian walking space as well as fountains, reflecting pools, sculpture, an ice-skating rink and urban graphics.  Maybe it might have been successful if it hadn't all been made of concrete.  By the summer of 1969 Lancaster Square was taking shape.  A new hotel, the Statler Hilton was almost complete and the Stanley Warner Movie Theatre was next to it on the north-east corner of the block.  Next came two parking garages and Hess's Department Store, all made of ugly concrete. Well, on September 25 of 1971 Lancaster Square was dedicated with US Senator Hugh Scott presiding over the event.  Scott predicted that Lancaster would be second to none in its urban renewal.  Today much of what had been built has been torn down and changed and what hasn't been changed is sitting vacant in the 100 block of North Queen Street.  As for "making way for progress," I guess it didn't work.  I wish they would have left the 100 block of of North Queen Street alone and Seinfelds would still be there. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The Northern Trust & Savings Company (later the Lancaster National Bank) was scheduled for demolition.

The Bank along with the rest of the west side of the street was demolished.

The YMCA that stood on the south-west corner of the block.

Demolition of the YMCA.

Another historical building, the Hotel Brunswick, was demolished.

The hotel's demolition.

A visualization of what Lancaster Square would look like by Victor Gruen.

What it actually looked like.  The view here is not exactly the same as the above picture.

Another view with playground.

On September 25, 1971 Lancaster Square was dedicated.