The historic Gingerbread Man restaurant will rebuild after suffering a damaging fire. A filing with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board shows that the restaurant, at 26 W. Main St. in Mechanicsburg, filed for an economic development restaurant liquor license.
The Gingerbread Man, which initially opened in 1979 and is known for its eye-catching decorative exterior, closed in July with owner Richard Phelan planning to sell the building to a local business owner. Phelan’s daughter Kymberly Thomas owned the business with her husband. They decided not to renew the lease, which expired on July 31, after they divorced. Phelan sold the restaurant’s liquor license to Rutter’s convenience store but later decided to continue running the business on his own.
“I own the building, and I own the restaurant chain, and I still feel that I have the energy and heart to do it,” Phelan, a septuagenarian, told The Sentinel.
Phelan told Penn Live that he had a change of heart after learning about economic development restaurant liquor license, which grants liquor licenses to encourage economic development when a county exceeds its license distribution limit. He also wanted to keep the business going to keep himself busy after the death of his wife, Linda, in 2021. The couple had been married for 55 years and opened several restaurants together over the years, including Alfie McDuffs, Fast Eddies, and Rod’s Roadhouse.
“I’m lonely,” he told PennLive. “I lost my wife of 55-plus years, the most wonderful girl.”
Phelan had been working with Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment Authority’s Program Services/Communications Manager Rebecca Yearick on his plans to reopen a new updated Gingerbread Man concept with a “fresh approach” that includes promotions and events. Phelan told The Sentinel that he hoped to bring live entertainment to Mechanicsburg and also mentioned wanting to see breweries and wineries open downtown.
“He plans to make it livelier and better patronized as there’s been more foot traffic than it’s seen in a few years,” Yearick told PennLive.
Phelan had begun renovations on the first floor added apartments to the third floor, as well as applied for the economic development restaurant liquor license when a fire broke in a loft area between the third floor and the roof a few months later in mid-December. The fire caused severe damage inside the building, blew out some windows, and blackened the decorative overhang on the building. The Downtown Mechanicsburg Partnership’s About Face! Facade Grant Review Panel ended up awarding the Gingerbread Man a $5,000 grant to help rebuild the building’s facade damaged in the fire.
“We wanted to again let him and the community know that we support our downtown, and we’re really excited about everything that’s coming with the Gingerbread Man,” said Yearick. “It’s a beautiful building and a landmark for sure.”
There were once 19 Gingerbread Man restaurants in Pennsylvania and Maryland. There is currently one in Carlisle that has the same decorative finish as the Mechanicsburg location.
