Roslyn's Next Easton Road Anchor Could Be a Public Building
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
Sara and Keith Dreitlein own The Clean Plate Club, whose commissary kitchen has been at 1170 Easton Road since March 2023 and serves as the base for its food truck. Abington Township was taking over the building. In a March post, they said, "We're not going anywhere."
That post is the clearest sign of where Roslyn's commercial strip is headed. This year two empty storefronts on Easton Road filled up quickly through ordinary private leasing. The bigger change underway is a building the Township plans to own and open to the public. It moves on the schedule of state grants, board agendas and design contracts, and it is happening alongside a separate library project that is easy to confuse with it.
The first came quickly. Costello's Ace Hardware opened May 22 at 1321 Easton Road in the old Rite Aid space and held a public grand-opening weekend June 26 through 28, Glenside Local reported. A chain pharmacy closed and a hardware retailer moved into the same box, which is the most common way a suburban corridor fills a big vacancy.
The second is smaller and more personal. Prisco's Lil Taste of Philly opened in July at 1409 Easton Road. It's a family-owned Italian sandwich shop and caterer, and the menu includes cheesesteaks, hoagies, cutlets and wings. In early September, Glenside Local reported that owner Joanne Micciolo planned to go to six days a week starting September 19, after temporary summer hours and a vacation closure. Check the current schedule before you walk over.
Both openings followed the usual steps for Easton Road. A space came open, a business signed for it, and the doors opened within months. The 1170 Easton Road project works differently.
Abington Township's public documents and local reporting show this order of events:
The award listing gives no address. Still, it is the same $1 million figure the Township asked for to plan and design the Easton Road site ten months earlier, and the project name lines up with Christman's promise of public use. Together that makes a community center at 1170–1180 Easton Road the most likely reading. The state record does not confirm the address, though, so treat it as a strong match until the Township ties the two together.
This kind of money pays for drawings. A design award comes before construction, and none of the sources so far report that the purchase has closed. They also don't give a demolition date, name a design firm or announce a public meeting about the site. The Clean Plate Club's website still lists 1170 Easton Road as its kitchen. That page is undated, and no public update has said where the kitchen is moving.
The November agenda also explains how the Township was getting ready to pay for projects like this. The same meeting took up a motion to start issuing General Obligation Bonds, Series of 2026, with proceeds going "towards land acquisition and various capital projects within the Township." The agenda doesn't link that bond to any one property. It does show the Township treating land purchases as part of its capital planning. On the same night, the board also authorized a $10,000 PECO Green Region Grant application to plan and design Phase 3 of the Ardsley Wildlife Sanctuary. Phase 2 at the sanctuary had earlier received a $151,645 county grant for an extended ADA path, stormwater features and habitat restoration.
These public projects near Roslyn move in phases, and each phase gets its own application.
If you're following 1170 Easton Road, these are the next public signs to look for:
A second Township building project is in design at the same time, and its headlines are bigger. In April 2026, the state awarded Abington a $749,750 Keystone grant to plan and design a new library facility. That project replaces the main Abington Free Library at 1030 Old York Road on the same property. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported in June that the project is estimated at $50 million and that the Township expects to demolish the current building sometime after September 2027. Public input is planned through surveys, focus groups and town halls. On September 28, Glenside Local reported that MPdL Studio had been picked to design the new main library and that a public feedback survey was open.
None of that involves Easton Road. The Keystone grant, the $50 million estimate, the 2027 demolition window and MPdL Studio all belong to Old York Road. The Easton Road site has its own $1 million design award and no named designer yet.
Roslyn's own branch library also stays put. The Roslyn Branch is still at 2412 Avondale Avenue. Its posted hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. It's closed Wednesday and Sunday. The branch has October 2026 events on its calendar, and no closure or move has been announced.
So Roslyn has two Township building projects moving through design at once, paid for from different sources and on different schedules. If you see a survey link, check which building it's asking about.
Easton Road already hosts at least one big civic event a year. The 26th Roslyn Fall Festival and Car Show took place Saturday, September 19, on Easton Road between East and Woodland Avenues. Abington Township, the Roslyn Boys & Girls Club and the Roslyn Business Association promoted it together. A permanent public building at 1170–1180 Easton Road would add a public use that lasts all year on a strip that's mostly businesses.
The groups behind the festival are still at it this month. The Roslyn Boys & Girls Club lists a Halloween Beef & Beer on Saturday, October 24, from 6 to 10 p.m. at North Penn VFW Post 676, 2519 Jenkintown Road in Glenside. It benefits the Roslyn Valley Business Association Car Show/Fallfest. Tickets cost $35 per person or $55 per couple.
Earlier the same day, the Township's Shade Tree Commission is giving away 300 native trees from 9 a.m. to noon at 2595 Rubicam Avenue in Willow Grove. Each household can take up to two, and registration opened in September. You could pick up a tree in the morning and go to the fundraiser at night, and both support Township and volunteer work in this part of Abington.
The Township has said 1170 Easton Road "will open for public use." The next Board of Commissioners agendas should show when the purchase closes and when Roslyn residents get to weigh in on what the building becomes.
If you own a home near Easton Road and want to know how a planned public building, a new storefront or a long construction schedule could affect your plans, I'm glad to go through what's on the public record with you. I can do that whether or not you're planning to sell. Reach out to Michael Newns Homes and we'll look at the Roslyn details together. Work With Me.
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