1507 South Main Street
Hasty Freez Sign on February 13, 2006
Since 1952, the southeast corner of Main and Milton Streets was home to a small cinder-block building that was the Lebanon Hasty Freez, a small drive through selling ice cream and burgers. For its last 26 years, it was owned by Loren D. Holt and his children Loren W. Holt and Lorie Davis-Toepfer. In 2005, the Oregon Department of Transportation began working on the intersection, as Main Street serves as U.S. Highway 20, and Milton Street is part of the truck route through town. The work included eliminating the Hasty Freez’s Main Street driveway and rounding off the intersection to give trucks more room to turn, leaving the building within 3 feet of the street. ODOT would not offer enough money to replace the building, or move it and bring it up to code, leaving the business no choice but to close on August 9, 2005. The building was demolished in 2006; the neon sign, which was restored in 2003 at a cost of $7,000, remained in place into at least early 2007, but was removed by the end of 2008. Until the business closed, the sign was available to rent for personal messages.
Hasty Freez Sign on July 14, 2006
Related Links:
Lebanon Hasty Freez to close from the Albany Democrat-Herald
Hasty Freez to close from the Albany Democrat-Herald
Another Hasty Freez is located in nearby Albany, Oregon, at 665 Lyon Street SE. It is owned & operated by Tony Pope, who took over the business in 1990 from his father, who bought the business in 1969 from Vince Simington. The business opened on March 22, 1952 as Tastee Freez. The name was changed to Hasty Freez after the original owner was confronted by the Tastee Freez franchise in the midwest, which the Albany store had no connection with. I do not know if there was ever any connection between the Albany and Lebanon stores, but it seems likely.
Related Links:
In search of the scoop from the Albany Democrat-Herald
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