Howard Johnson's - Unknown - Asbury, Park
Posted by: 
ODragon
N 40° 13.405 W 073° 59.933
18T E 585176 N 4453035
An old odd shaped HoJo's.
Waymark Code: WM5TBD
Location: New Jersey, United States
Date Posted: 02/10/2009
Views: 10
This is the location of the HoJo's located on the corner of 5th and Ocean ave. It is oddly shaped, my guess is to maximize the amount of viewing area as this is located right on the boardwalk.
A view of the old Howard Johnson's is located here: (
visit link)
From (
visit link) :
Not only was a Howard Johnson's Restaurant in the round unorthodox, but it was also an unusual design choice given Asbury Park's other nearby buildings done in the "Beaux Arts" style of a prior era.
Influenced by the crispness of the Jet/Space age, John Duhring Fridy (1908-2000) designed the unique complex which housed the out-of-the-ordinary HoJo's.
Scott Banks who visited the site in 2005 discovered a brief display about Asbury Park's history including the historic photograph that has been reproduced on this page.
Information that Mr. Banks gathered from Asbury Park indicated that the "New Fifth Avenue Pavilion," as the complex which included the Howard Johnson's was called, opened in 1963. It was hailed as "modern architecture," and served to compliment the Boardwalk's existing late 19th and early 20th century structures.
In addition to the HoJo's, the Pavilion offered retail store-front space along the Boardwalk and also a roof-top stage named for bandleader Arthur Pryor. Most of the Pavilion is slated for demolition or has already been demolished. The photo below shows part of HoJo's ramp had already been removed by the time of Scott's visit.