CVS Developer Prescribes Historic Tredyffrin Township Building’s Demolition

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Pattye Benson outside the historic Covered Wagon Inn--via Philly.com

A historic Tredyffrin Township destination for more than two centuries has just received a prescription for its demolition from the developer of chain CVS pharmacies, and it’s a hard pill to swallow for the many Chester County residents who share memories of the Old Covered Wagon Inn — and who watched the Mile Post Inn across the street be demolished 19 years ago to build a Rite Aid.

The building is far from sick — “It is a beautiful example of a stone building from [the late 1700s] timeframe, and it’s in good shape,” Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society Vice President John Senior said in a Philly.com report by Michaelle Bond — but it sits on an attractive 1.7-acre property worth about $2.5 million.

Now a Thos. Moser furniture showroom, it is not alone amongst threatened historic buildings.

“All historic buildings are currently at risk in Tredyffrin Township,” Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust President Pattye Benson noted in the article. “My hope is that we save this building, but more importantly, we have something in place that preserves historic structures in the township.”

Currently, all that can be done by the 3,800 people who signed an online petition to stop the demolition is ask Summit Realty Advisors to change its plans or renovate within the building. There’s no legal process or protection.

And while there are lots of local memories, there’s not much national significance in the building’s history apart from a visit by then-President Richard Nixon.

“Everyone seems to have a memory of the building, a story to tell about it,” Benson added.

Read much more about the varying Chester County preservation laws and where Tredyffrin Township stands on Philly.com here, or follow the effort to save the historic building here.

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