Bethlehem Pike

For 14 years, Frank Mastroni advertised his hardware and home center business in Flourtown with a sign along Bethlehem Pike. Mastroni said that over the years, Whitemarsh Township officials have asked him to move the sign, tone down the color and chain it to a pole. But Mastroni said that he was never asked to remove it. Until recently. Mastroni was cited by the township in May for having an illegal sign in front of Flourtown Supply Co. But the case was continued, pending the granting of variances for the sign by the township Zoning Hearing Board.

The shopping strip on Bethlehem Pike here has no sidewalk. It has no benches. It has no trash receptacles. And it has few trees. Lower Gwynedd Township is looking to change that, by taking the first step toward implementing an estimated $500,000 project designed to make the shopping strip more attractive and accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists. To fund the project, the township last week applied for a $400,000 federal grant under the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)

Giant Food Stores announced Thursday it will acquire 16 Genuardi's Family Markets across the Philadelphia area in a $106 million deal that will significantly alter the supermarket landscape in the region by giving surging Giant an even greater profile in the highly competitive suburbs. The transaction, expected to close over the next six months, would transfer ownership of the stores from Safeway Inc., and convert them all to Giant, whose operations are headquartered in Carlisle, Pa. The stores affected are on York Road in Jamison, Eagle Road in Newtown, Flowers Mill Road in Langhorne, County Line Road in Chalfont, Boot Road in West Chester, East Baltimore Pike in East Marlborough, East Lancaster Avenue in St. Davids, Baltimore Pike in Springfield, Wynnewood Road in Wynnewood, Bethlehem Pike in Flourtown, Huntingdon Pike in Huntingdon Valley, Bethlehem Pike in Spring House, South Henderson Road in King of Prussia, Norristown Road in Maple Glen, Susquehanna Road in Roslyn, and Sumneytown Pike in North Wales.

Giant Food Stores said Thursday it would begin converting 15 former Genuardi's supermarkets in the region on June 29. • Stores on Boot Road in West Chester, Huntingdon Pike in Huntingdon Valley, York Road in Jamison, Baltimore Pike in Kennett Square, and Sumneytown Pike in North Wales will close June 28 at 6 p.m., and reopen July 8 at 8 a.m. • Stores on Wynnewood Road in Wynnewood, Bethlehem Pike in Spring House, Baltimore Pike in...

Hoofbeats sounded 226 years ago, as Gen. George Washington led his troops past the Black Horse Inn to menace the British at Germantown. Stagecoaches rattled past the Springfield Township, Montgomery County, tavern in the 1800s. The swish of cars followed in 1926. Through much of this time, voices and glasses were raised in the hotel's barroom. Fresh voices were raised Tuesday night when 60 people turned out at a planning commission meeting to hear a new developer's proposal.

Theodore F. Harrington Jr., 82, of Milford Township, a retired building-supplies salesman who served as a township supervisor in both Bucks and Montgomery Counties, died Thursday at Grand View Hospital near Sellersville. For many years before retirement, he worked in sales for Krupp Meyers & Huffman, a Lansdale supplier of building materials and hardware for the construction field. Mr. Harrington had served on the Montgomery Township Board of Supervisors, including a time as chairman, and on the Montgomery Township Sewer Authority.

It was just after midnight on Nov. 21, and a Lower Gwynedd police car was involved in a rare high-speed chase. A stolen Nissan Pathfinder was leading one of the Police Department's Chevrolet Caprices down Bethlehem Pike, approaching an incline near Mount Pleasant Avenue. But just as the Caprice was about to reach the crest of the hill, a second township police car came down Mount Pleasant and struck it in the right side. "Neither of the two cars involved knew where the other was," said Police Chief Edward Hancock.

The Whitemarsh Township Board of Supervisors approved a land-development plan that will allow Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems to install a 117-foot-high antenna that will help improve cellular telephone reception. The vote Thursday night was 5-0. The antenna will be located along Bethlehem Pike near the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Bell is leasing the property from Peter Cross and Kirk Wycoff. The 7.6-acre parcel is to be subdivided into two lots, with the tower located on a lot about one-half acre in size.

The public works garage at Penllyn-Blue Bell Pike and Wister Road is an eyesore that township officials are determined to remove. Plans for demolishing the 3,600-square-foot building are underway, along with plans to build a garage on Bethlehem Pike. The township supervisors have announced that the bidding for both jobs will begin March 14. Township officials believe the total cost will be about $50,000. Money for the garage will come out of the township's capital fund and was budgeted for 1994.

Fairmount Park, which is so close on the other side of the city line and yet so far away, soon might actually be linked to the township. The Board of Commissioners is considering creating a 2-mile-long pedestrian and bicycle path through Flourtown and the Panhandle section. Under the proposal, the path would extend from the Flourtown Country Club to the park. "The path would definitely open up a lane of recreation for walkers and bikers throughout the township," said Commissioner Kenneth R. Bradley.

Giant Food Stores said Thursday it would begin converting 15 former Genuardi's supermarkets in the region on June 29. • Stores on Boot Road in West Chester, Huntingdon Pike in Huntingdon Valley, York Road in Jamison, Baltimore Pike in Kennett Square, and Sumneytown Pike in North Wales will close June 28 at 6 p.m., and reopen July 8 at 8 a.m. • Stores on Wynnewood Road in Wynnewood, Bethlehem Pike in Spring House, Baltimore Pike in...

Giant Food Stores announced Thursday it will acquire 16 Genuardi's Family Markets across the Philadelphia area in a $106 million deal that will significantly alter the supermarket landscape in the region by giving surging Giant an even greater profile in the highly competitive suburbs. The transaction, expected to close over the next six months, would transfer ownership of the stores from Safeway Inc., and convert them all to Giant, whose operations are headquartered in Carlisle, Pa. The stores affected are on York Road in Jamison, Eagle Road in Newtown, Flowers Mill Road in Langhorne, County Line Road in Chalfont, Boot Road in West Chester, East Baltimore Pike in East Marlborough, East Lancaster Avenue in St. Davids, Baltimore Pike in Springfield, Wynnewood Road in Wynnewood, Bethlehem Pike in Flourtown, Huntingdon Pike in Huntingdon Valley, Bethlehem Pike in Spring House, South Henderson Road in King of Prussia, Norristown Road in Maple Glen, Susquehanna Road in Roslyn, and Sumneytown Pike in North Wales.

Pennsylvania 1706 Rittenhouse Sq. unit 601 , $3,750,000. 271 S. 11th St. , $1,125,000. 640 Gate House Ln. , $1,030,000. 2107 Bainbridge St. , $680,000. 1014 N. Third St. , $680,000. 130 S. 18th St. unit 509 , $679,000. 1425 Locust St. unit 9c , $599,000. 1704 Green St. , $598,085. 6617 Lincoln Dr. , $570,000. 144-46 N. Third St. unit A , $550,000. 135 W. Laurel St. unit 1 , $540,000. 1425 Locust St. unit 2b , $500,000.

Hoofbeats sounded 226 years ago, as Gen. George Washington led his troops past the Black Horse Inn to menace the British at Germantown. Stagecoaches rattled past the Springfield Township, Montgomery County, tavern in the 1800s. The swish of cars followed in 1926. Through much of this time, voices and glasses were raised in the hotel's barroom. Fresh voices were raised Tuesday night when 60 people turned out at a planning commission meeting to hear a new developer's proposal.

In the first revision of the township comprehensive plan since 1987, the Board of Supervisors has revealed its vision for a greener, more walkable community anchored by a shopping district that would act as a town hub. Residents, local officials and urban planners met earlier this week to discuss the future of the community, which is bordered by major thoroughfares. The big push will be to transform the township into a "unified community" connected by a Bethlehem Pike shopping district with shared parking and driveways.

For 39 years, the Community Ambulance Association of Ambler has sat safe and snug among the shade trees and cozy borough homes of North Main Street - a little too snug for some. Built in 1960 to provide emergency service to the borough, the ambulance company has since expanded its coverage area to all of Lower Gwynedd, most of Upper Dublin and half of Whitpain. But while its clientele has grown, the squad's one-story station at 150 N. Main St. has not. "It's kind of primitive, really," said John Coupe, president of the ambulance association.

Theodore F. Harrington Jr., 82, of Milford Township, a retired building-supplies salesman who served as a township supervisor in both Bucks and Montgomery Counties, died Thursday at Grand View Hospital near Sellersville. For many years before retirement, he worked in sales for Krupp Meyers & Huffman, a Lansdale supplier of building materials and hardware for the construction field. Mr. Harrington had served on the Montgomery Township Board of Supervisors, including a time as chairman, and on the Montgomery Township Sewer Authority.

Police have released the identity of the driver who allegedly tried to run over two township officers with a car Saturday on Bethlehem Pike, then fled and crashed into three other cars containing a total of 22 people. The crash resulted in five serious injuries, police said. Ryan M. Harris, 25, of the 200 block of East Montana Street, Philadelphia, was arraigned Saturday evening at Abington Memorial Hospital by District Justice Deborah Lukens. The charges against him included aggravated assault, receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment, resisting arrest, fleeing police, driving without a license, and hit-and-run involving an injury.