Its heyday long gone, resort closes doors

Associated Press

MOUNT POCONO, Pa. — In its heyday, Bob Hope regaled throngs of visitors at Mount Airy Lodge, while comedian Rodney Dangerfield made them laugh and Tony Bennett got their toes tapping.

But these are no longer the glory days for the lodge, one of the oldest and most famous of Pocono Mountain resorts.

After a bankruptcy, a suicide and a change of hands, the lodge shuttered its doors on Monday, possibly for good.

Workers met with managers Monday morning and spoke with reverence about the resort.

"It’s like a home for me. We all worked as a family," said Samya Darwish, a waitress at the resort for 20 years.

While 200 people are losing their jobs, local officials and the resort’s owner, Oaktree Capital Management, have been working for several months to find a way to keep the lodge running.

About 50 employees are being kept on, some to run the golf course, while the search for a new owner continues. Most workers will be paid through the end of the year.

The lodge’s owner, Emil Wagner, committed suicide in 1999 rather than see it leave the family. At the time of its bankruptcy filing, the resort owed $29 million in back mortgage payments.

When it opened in 1936, the resort was a family-run operation. It grew to become an annual destination for visitors to see such celebrities as Hope and comedian Alan King.

The lodge also was a draw for its mountain air, golf, horseback riding and nightclub acts. By the time of Wagner’s death, it employed 600 people.

But competition from Atlantic City casinos and cruise ships eventually thinned the traffic on the roads to the Poconos, along with cheaper travel to the Caribbean.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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