KETTERING — The former Friendly’s restaurant in Kettering was demolished Tuesday, one of multiple steps toward expanding parking for the adjacent Kroger store.
The restaurant property, which sits at one of Kettering’s more prominent intersections — Stroop and Shroyer roads, across from Town & Country shopping center — has been vacant and boarded for more than eight years.
City of Kettering records show demolition permits were also issued for the former Liberty Savings Bank that sits on the other side of the Kroger parking lot. But that building, at 550 E. Stroop in the Eichelberger Shopping Center, had not yet been razed Tuesday evening.
Kettering city officials said earlier this year that the building sites would be replaced with additional parking and landscaping.
The CVS Pharmacy store immediately next to Kroger closed last year, leading to questions about whether Kroger would expand its footprint. Kroger declined to comment on the Stroop Road developments earlier this spring.
The shopping center is owned by Jack W. Eichelberger Trust, with Gary Froelich as the trustee, Montgomery County land records state.
The Kroger store was remodeled into a Fresh Fare in 2009, while the city widened sidewalks and installed decorative street lights and retaining walls on Stroop in 2014. Friendly’s closed in late 2014 as part of a shutdown of several restaurants for the national chain.
Credit: JEREMY KELLEY/STAFF
Credit: JEREMY KELLEY/STAFF
