SAVVY MAINLINE

it's what you want to know

Luxurious Life Time Athletic, DryBar coming to Ardmore; White Manor Country Club sold; local ‘FADD’ to fight ODs; a Broadway good-bye & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The elite health & fitness company likes the Main Line so much, it’s putting not ONE, but TWO of its mega clubs here.

Our first Life Time – a scratch-built, 140,000 sq. ft. whopper with a “resort-like” outdoor pool and waterslides – will debut in June on Swedesford Rd. in Tredyffrin. (Life Time’s calling it King of Prussia, but the map says it’s Wayne, if only by a hair.)

And just announced: our second Life Time will be in Ardmore – an exclusive “diamond” level club (a notch above KOP’s “onyx premier”) in the former Macy’s building, one of two Grand Dames of Suburban Square. (The tall Times building is the other.)

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More hazing fallout: Stoga accuser sues T/E Schools & football coaches; Bryn Mawr’s new Turning Point and Solidcore; Lost ladies of Lithe & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The criminal case against Conestoga football players was settled last week, but the dispute is far from over.

SAVVY Main Line has learned that the alleged victim and his father have filed a federal civil lawsuit against the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, Conestoga High School, former head coach John Vogan and his five assistant coaches.

The 22-page lawsuit, obtained by us this week but filed Nov. 2, 2016, alleges that the plaintiff (aka the then-freshman football player) was subjected to a “hostile educational environment” where he suffered “sex-based harassment and sexual abuse” … “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive” that it denied him the educational opportunity or benefit provided by the school.”

According to the suit, the plaintiff suffered “severe and permanent injuries” and his civil rights were violated. He and his father are asking for compensatory and punitive damages, court costs and attorneys’ fees.

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Stoga football hazing scandal settled: Players admit to harassment, nothing more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The football hazing/sodomy scandal that rocked Conestoga last year won’t be going to trial after all.

The three accused ex-players today admitted in court only to harassing their freshman teammate.

In exchange for that admission, the really nasty charges – assault, making terrorist threats, conspiracy, unlawful restraint, possession of an instrument of crime – were all dropped. (Their trial on those charges was to have begun this morning.)

And remember the DA’s vile account of what went down in the locker room in October 2015?

Well, that’s been dropped, too. Or at least radically revised.

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Dishing on Eatnic in Paoli, drug rehab in Devon, the area’s 2nd pro theatre group, Polka Dots lives on & SAVVY holiday shopping

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Ah, how to describe Paoli’s new Eatnic?

Sure, we could tell you it’s a farm-fresh, morning-til-night BYOB and be done with it.

But there’s more to it than that.

Much more.

Because Eatnic comes from the same fertile brain that 30 years ago spawned the world’s first Saladworks, and with it, the now ubiquitous fast-casual dining category.

And what John Scardapane did with Saladworks – more than 100 franchisees, many millions in sales (before selling in 2015) – he just might do with Eatnic.

And it all will have started here.

In little old Paoli.

Which means this modest eatery on a non-descript stretch of Route 30 is a pretty big deal,

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SoHo chic in Bryn Mawr, Paoli’s cool new corner, standout Stoga grad’s stunning OD & lots more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

It will be fascinating to see how the Main Line responds to Kirna Zabête, just open near La Colombe in the new Bryn Mawr Village.

Because its 3,000 square feet are unlike anything we’ve seen in these parts. (And you know we get around.)

Kirna Zabête (KEER nah Zah BETT) is an exuberant paean to high fashion.

A boutique for serious fashionistas that – with touches of warmth and whimsy – doesn’t take itself too seriously.

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Election aftershocks, T/E drug use/mental health update, Wayne’s new BYOB, Firepoint in N. Square & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

No matter how you voted, you have to feel sickened by the reported assault of a black female student by a group of white male students on Villanova’s campus last week.

Here’s what reportedly went down: The young woman was walking through the SEPTA tunnel around 9 pm Thursday when a group of guys en route to an off-campus formal approached and knocked her down, shouting “Trump! Trump! Trump!” The student’s face and head hit concrete. According to her friend, she was badly shaken, suffered nausea, vomiting and dizziness and was reluctant to report the attack at first.

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La Cabra Brewing & other hot new spots, L. Merion’s PR problems, a fond farewell & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

In a word: wow.

We’re blown away by what a bunch of brewpub newbies just pulled off in downtown Berwyn.

They took a drab old furniture store across from the train station (RIP Pearl of the East), gutted it, and turned it into rustic-chic La Cabra Brewing, suddenly the hippest spot in town.

OK. Not so suddenly.

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T/E teacher/coach LeRoi Leviston (Stoga ’06) finds his voice as Roi Lush. Plus, hot news around town

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

If anyone’s story can blot out all the bad press that came out of T/E schools last year, surely LeRoi Leviston’s can.

His journey from starting Stoga quarterback to Mr. Lev, Valley Forge Middle School teacher, to Roi Lush, full-time rapper, is as improbable as it is inspiring.

The odds against LeRoi, 28, were stacked from the start.

He was born on Long Island to parents who “were very into hardcore drugs,” LeRoi tells SAVVY.

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Another BIG redo for Devon, new details on Devon Yard, Fritz & Van Cleve, the skinny on Fat Ham & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

From Devon Manor to The Royal Devon?

Could be.

Developer Brian O’Neill confirms that he’s now the proud owner of the large and long-in-the-tooth nursing home/rehab complex on Lancaster Ave.

Residents and patients are being relocated, 124 staffers are looking for new jobs, and Devon Manor goes dark next month.

This is prime real estate, folks – 8.6 acres with lots of frontage on Route 30 and a deep lot. And just a skip and a jump from the Devon train station.

So what will O’Neill do with it?

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Neighbors win downsized plan for Devon Yards, scoops on Berwyn’s new downtown, Savona’s makeover & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Just when you thought Urban Outfitters’ deal for the old Waterloo site might be kaput comes wondrous news: Devon Yards is alive and kicking.

Urban and developer Eli Kahn have agreed on a new plan – their fourth, by our count – that nixes both bugaboos: the four-story apartment building and the parking garage.

The revised proposal is strictly retail and restaurants – nothing residential.

Just what the neighbors ordered.

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