A new ‘40’ being readied on former Club 40 site

March 27, 2016

Rick Shrum
Observer Reporter

If the walls could talk, they’d have 65 years of stories to tell about Club 40, a popular restaurant/bar.

Club 40 shut down more than four years ago, but its exterior walls remain, and starting this summer, they may have new but similar stories to tell.

Forty Bar & Grille is being built on that location, at the intersection of Chestnut Street (Route 40) and Mounts Road in North Franklin Township, a few hundred yards from Buffalo Township.

A couple of Washington County natives named Robert – Starr and Merashoff – are the owners and Emily Cottrill the project manager of the endeavor. They are preparing to start interior work and are planning a summer launch.

“Everything is new except the exterior walls,” said Starr, president of JRS Land Co. in Meadow Lands. He said there will be a deck at the back and “live music, entertainment most nights.”

Club 40 opened in 1946, a one-story structure built on a 2.62-acre site with seating for about 200 and an 80-space parking lot. Its 8,554 square feet of space was split between the main and lower levels. The kitchen, offices and storage were located below. The club was closed in 2011.

It is about two miles west of Interstate 70.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/Just-Forty-1378657532452329/.