Penn Hills Resort

Penn Hills Resort was a honeymoon resort located in community of Analomink, in Stroud Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, in the Pocono Mountains region near the Borough of East Stroudsburg. Founded as a tavern in 1944, it expanded to over a hundred rooms before closing in 2009.[1]

Penn Hills Resort, bubble bath, circa 1970's
View of the Penn Hills Resort pool, shaped like a wedding bell, suffering neglect after the resort was abandoned. August, 2012

The 500 acre resort grew in the 1960s to include a ski resort and a golf course. Guest villas featured floor-to-ceiling carpeting, round beds, and heart-shaped bathtubs.[2] Distinctive, modernist streetlights from the 1964 World's Fair were installed, as well as an ice rink and a wedding bell shaped outdoor swimming pool.[3]

Billed as a "Paradise of Pocono Pleasure" and a place of "unbridled passion",[4] the resort catered to Swinging, young couples who enjoyed archery and tennis and danced at modestly lavish New Year's Eve parties where the motto was "No balloon goes unpopped."[5]

In 2009, Penn Hills co-founder Frances Paolillo died at the age of 102. The resort closed less than two months later.[1] Workers' final paychecks were never issued, and the resort owed the county over $1 million in back taxes.[6] Already in serious disrepair, flooding, and copper thieves damaged the buildings further, and the resort was abandoned.[7]

Monroe County has tried auctioning the property to pay off some of the taxes, but as of 2012 it remains unsold.[8] Update: In late February-early March of 2016, Penn Hills Resort was finally sold. http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20160229/NEWS/160229504

References

  1. 1 2 Michael Sadowski, Venerable Pocono resort is deserted, Pocono Record, April 15, 2009
  2. ↑ William Robbins, What's Doing In the Poconos, New York Times, April 12, 1981
  3. ↑ Worlds Fair Community message board, 2011
  4. ↑ Ethan Todras-Whitehill, Where Every Day Is New Year's Eve, New York Times, December 28, 2007
  5. ↑ Marta Gouger, New Year's bash of a decade... or 4, Pocono Record, December 31, 2007
  6. ↑ Beth Brelje, Honeymoon is ending at Penn Hills, Pocono Record, April 1, 2009
  7. ↑ Beth Brelje, Attempted copper theft lands one in hospital, one in jail, Pocono Record, May 19, 2010
  8. ↑ Michael Sadowski, Abandoned Analomink resort remains mostly unsold, Pocono Record, May 4, 2012

External links

Coordinates: 41°03′27″N 75°12′48″W / 41.05750°N 75.21333°W / 41.05750; -75.21333

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.