Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club

Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club was the last of the Borscht Belt grand resorts, opening it's doors in 1907 and expanding through the 1920s, with the largest expansion occuring in the post-war era through the 1980's economic boom.  The nightclub saw such acts as Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong perform during it's heyday.  Amenities for guests included kosher meals, an indoor pool, indoor raquetball, and indoor ice skating, as well as outdoor sports.  The hotel continued to operate until an accidental death in 2013 and the hotel was sold to a developer intent on demolition.  Kutsher's Hotel was demolished in 2014.
I visited soon after the furniture auction was held, but prior to pick up.  Lights were lit, rooms intact, and the elevators mostly functioning as we roamed the hallways on found bicycles.  The color scheme spoke of a different era, with pinks and greens decorating the halls and rooms.  One could almost hear the strains of jazz music in the dark blue starlight lounge.  And so it stood, one of the last functioning giants of the Borscht Belt left us with the decaying notes of an age gone by.