LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — It's been a little more than a year since a fire destroyed a popular Lancaster County restaurant.
Now, new beginnings are on the horizon at Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn in Strasburg Township, which is in the process of changing its name to Hershey Farm Resor
“Once you got past the initial shock, we looked at it and said, 'Here’s an opportunity to take all our experience and what we know and make it a better experience," said Deryl Stoltzfus, partner and owner of Hershey Farm, on Wednesday.
It also means welcoming back many of the restaurant's employees.
“They mean a lot to us and for many of them they had to find work elsewhere this past year so we’re very excited to have them back to the Hershey Farm family as well," said Stoltzfus.
The January 2023 fire started as the restaurant was undergoing some roof maintenance. Thankfully no one was injured.
“They were trying to fix a tarred roof and a fire happened from that," recalled Stoltzfus. "It got into the ductwork and the building went very, very fast.”
Construction crews remain hard at work, as the popular tourist spot closes in on its grand reopening.
“We’re about two months out from being able to open so we’re really excited about that," said Stoltzfus.
The restaurant is on track to reopen in May, though Stoltzfus says an exact date is not known yet.
The restaurant will now be connected to the Inn and will have a completely new design.
“You’ll see a streetscape with shops, the smorgasbord has views it never had before," Stoltzfus explained. "We’re going to have a café which we didn’t have before.”
The reopening will come just in time for what Discover Lancaster expects will be another busy summer tourist season.
“We have a new show at Sight & Sound [Theatres] this year, "Daniel," which is opening in mid-March and of course, Hershey Farm is right down the hill so that’s a key dynamic between the two of them," explained Joel Cliff, director of communications for Discover Lancaster.
The reopening of the Hershey Farm restaurant will fill a much-needed gap in Lancaster County's tourism industry.
“It’s massive. It’s why soon after the fire we were working really hard to be able to open by spring of this year," said Stoltzfus.
Along with the January 2023 fire at Hershey Farm, a fatal propane explosion in December destroyed part of the Bird-in-Hand Family Inn. Just weeks later, in January of this year, a separate fire broke out at the Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant, which sits right next to the Inn's front office which was destroyed in the explosion.
As it rebuilds from that fire, Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant will move to the former Revere Tavern at 3063 Lincoln Highway East in nearby Paradise. Bird-in-Hand Family Restaurant is expected to begin serving customers at the temporary location in mid-March.
“We’ve been working since last year when the Hershey Farm fire happened to help groups find additional places in regards to their group dining needs," added Cliff.
For Hershey Farm Resort, the work isn't done once the restaurant reopens in May.
Stoltzfus tells FOX43 they also have plans to expand the inn and add an indoor pool.
“We planned that prior to the fire," he said That got put on the back burner to get [the restaurant] built.”
That work is expected to begin in the fall.
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