LEHIGHTON, Pa. — A landmark in the community, this hotel has sat on the corner of Mill Road and Mahoning Drive near Lehighton for more than a century.
It's a place Cindy Gasper says has a lot of history.
"It was also a hospital for World War I veterans, and it was Broney's of course afterward. They did use it as a church for a portion of the time. You know it's right on the coroner this is the Gnadden Hutten path, that runs to the Massacre site," said Gasper.
The place is undergoing an extensive renovation.
Gasper and her brother bought the building 10 years ago, but only recently started working on it.
The building is known by many as the former Broney's Hotel which operated from 1934 until 1966.
Between the closure of Broney's up until Gasper took over, the property has changed hands many times.
The hope now is to restore the building.
"My brother is going to do a restaurant. then the restaurant is also going to be dining, and then we'll have the patio for outside. My cousins are going to do a winery/distillery which is what the grapes are for out there and then I'm going to do a cafe and tearoom in the back. I think it will be really nice when it's done. I think a lot of people will be visiting because they're curious," said Gasper.
While the building may look brand new, the owners say it's taking a long time to get it to look like this. The building is from 1898 and they say there is still a lot of work left to be done.
"We have a good crew that really worked hard doing a lot of the installation, that was a biggy. You know getting all the walls prepped and everything else too, running the wires, the electricity, everything had to be redone. Every single thing. It's like we might as well built new if we weren't trying to preserve history," Gasper said.
The owners hope to open the restaurant and the cafe in the spring of 2024.