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Karen's at Brookside to close in the fall
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By John Tredrea
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Staff Writer
| 06/05/2003 |
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Karen's at Brookside, a popular spot at the intersection of Routes 31-518, will be leaving to make way for an enlarged intersection.
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Owner will vacate premises by Oct. 1, because state Department of Transportation needs acre of land for major enlargement of intersection of Routes 31-518.
This spring/summer season will be the last for Karen's at Brookside, a roadside eatery that has become a Valley institution during its 28 years of existence.
"We've been around for a long time, and this is our last season," owner Karen Bendix-Rowland said nostalgically Friday. "Our place will make way for a turning lane from Route 31 onto Route 518."
Ms. Bendix-Rowland, who will vacate the premises by Oct. 1, is leaving because the state Department of Transportation (DOT) needs her acre of land for a major enlargement of the intersection of state Route 31 and county Route 518.
Right-turn lanes will be added to all four approaches to the intersection. Also added will be a barrier to prevent left turns from northbound Route 31 into the parking lot of a Wawa located a short distance south of the intersection. Karen's at Brookside is right at the southeast corner.
"I've tried to keep a totally positive attitude about moving, but it's been hard at times," said Ms. Bendix-Rowland, an upbeat woman whose attitude must have had much to do with her business staying alive for nearly three decades. "I want to relocate. I'm eyeballing a few possible sites now. I'm happy to move, but the state shouldn't make it financially impossible for me to do that."
The state, which plans to begin actual work on widening the intersection next spring, plans to buy the Karen's tract. Ms. Bendix-Rowland has one problem with that right now: the price, which she would not disclose, that the state has offered to pay her. "I'll put it this way," she said. "The state offered me only a little more than I paid for this place in 1975. I don't think that's fair. But a second appraisal is being done and I'm confident it will turn out fairly this time. This is just the way the process works. You have to grind it out, one step at a time."
She said the intersection at which she has been selling burgers, fries and ice cream for so long was very quiet indeed when she first set up shop in 1975. A quantum leap in the amount of truck traffic on Route 31 during the past decade has spelled doom for her business. The oddly configured intersection at which Karen's sits presents turning problems for big rigs and has been the scene of several serious accidents involving 18-wheelers.
"I know something has to be done," Ms. Bendix-Rowland admits. "I speak from firsthand experience. We've had two tractor-trailers come onto my property. One came to a stop 4 inches from my building's overhang."
Ms. Bendix-Rowland says she has faith things will work out fine, but admits to having periodic bouts of powerful anxiety and worry. "As things stand now, come November, I will not have an income from this place or any other place," she said. "I try not to hyperventilate when I think about it, but I've been here so long, you see . . . I have to run my own business. It's who I am. Karen's is my place, it's where people talk and meet and have something to eat. I like my people and where they come from, I like their attitude. The prospect of losing something like that can hit you hard. It seems to come from the center of yourself."
Ms. Bendix-Rowland said the outpouring of sympathy and support from her cadre of regulars has "been overwhelming. I had convinced myself I was going to hold up pretty well when a lady told me one day: 'I'll pray for you.' Honestly, I thought I was going to fall on the floor and cry. It made me see how wrapped up in this place I really am. Another gave me $20 for a $5 order and wouldn't take any change. She told me to put the $15 in my legal fund."
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©PACKETONLINE News Classifieds Entertainment Business - Princeton and Central New Jersey 2003
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