Fire destroys Moose Lodge, former Grand Hotel, 1937

Moose Lodge fire
1300 Merchant St.
September 19, 1937
courtesy John Dunn collection

Many of us remember when the Moose Lodge occupied the building that is now Franzee's and Javy's Banquet Hall at 1300 Merchant St. But that wasn't the original Moose Lodge at that location. This was:

"Moose Club,"
Economy Centennial Souvenir Program, Economy of Old and Ambridge of Today,
1924

That building had started its life as the Grand Hotel, built in 1903, by Frank Workman of Rochester. The hotel was cited in a Real Estate Trust Co. sales ad in the May 15, 1906, Pittsburgh Press as an example of the "high class" buildings being built on Merchant St. at the time.

Real Estate Trust Co. ad, excerpt
Pittsburgh Press
May 15, 1906

The ad begins:

This Modern Hotel at Economy-Ambridge Typifies City's Progress. 

The Hotel Grand, picture above, is located at Merchant and 13th Streets, in the Economy part of Economy-Ambridge. As may be seen from the picture, the building is a brick 4-story structure and is far ahead of hotels usually built in industrial towns. It is an example of the high class of buildings that have been erected during the past two years along Merchant Street, the remarkable business avenue of Economy-Ambridge. The growth of this street in modern business buildings is without parallel in Western Pennsylvania. No frame structures are allowed and every building erected has been a substantial contribution to the appearance of the street and to the improvements of the community.

Grand Hotel
Economy PA
postcard dated June 30, 1906

During Ambridge's early years, the Grand Hotel/Hotel Grand was one of the three large hotels in the northern part of the current Ambridge Borough that was still called Economy; the other two were the Ambridge Hotel at the northwest corner of 8th and Merchant Sts. and the Old Economy Hotel on the southwest corner of 14th and Merchant.

The September 20, 1937, Ambridge Daily Citizen, described the building as "long a landmark and once a thriving hotel." The paper went on to say, "The place was operated as a hotel and bar with varying success until the advent of national prohibition. At the time it passed into the hands of the Loyal Order of the Moose, its present owners."

The Daily Citizen wrote of the fire:

Starting on the fourth floor of the old structure about 3:30 p.m. fire, fanned by a stiff wind, ate rapidly through the dried wood of the building, completely gutting the third and fourth floors before firemen of three communities--Ambridge, Sewickley and Leetsdale --brought the flames under control. Almost 20 people were driven out of neighboring houses by danger of fire spreading.

It took seven hours for firefighters to get the flames under control.

Moose Lodge fire
1300 Merchant St.
September 19, 1937
courtesy John Dunn collection

The Daily Citizen reported:

Thousands of spectators jammed the streets as firemen fought the blaze, adding traffic congestion to the general confusion....Police worked feverishly to hold back crowds from the burning building as fire-warped walls crumbled and fell to the street below. 

Moose Lodge fire
1300 Merchant St.
September 19, 1937
courtesy John Dunn collection

The occupants of an adjoining house--Michael Kentsler,* his wife, a son, and ten roomers--had to vacate the house for the night because of concern about fire-weakened walls collapsing. Firemen pulled down the building's badly damaged wall on the Merchant St. side as a safety measure the night of the fire.

Fire-damaged Moose Lodge
1300 Merchant St.
September 19, 1937
courtesy John Dunn collection

Fortunately, at the time of the fire, the building was vacant except for the Grand Restaurant, owned by Gus Kellas, on the building's ground floor. While the fire itself didn't reach the restaurant, it was severely damaged by water, smoke, and falling debris. The Grand Restaurant later moved across the street to 1231 Merchant.

I don't know if the cause of the fire was ever determined.
_____

There was some discrepancy in the reporting about the fire. For example, the September 20, 1937, Daily Times reported that the fire had started on the third floor at 7 P.M., and that the volunteer fire departments of Baden and Fair Oaks also helped fight the fire.

*Spelled "Kensler" in the Daily Times article. I don't know which spelling is correct.

Even though the Grand Hotel/Moose Lodge building was gone long before I was born, I have a special fondness for it, and previously wrote about it in my February 24, 2014, blog article "Ambridge History: The Grand Hotel and the Moose." If I hadn't done some research trying to find out about the building shown in an old undated news clipping, I might never have caught the Ambridge history bug.