Iconic Cherry Hill Nightclub Closes Its Doors After Nearly Four Decades
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- After 37 years, a Cherry Hill, New Jersey landmark has gone of business due to bankruptcy. The music stopped at the Coastline Bar and Grill Sunday night.
Back in the late 1970s, Donna Summer's "Last Dance" was a hit on the charts, as well as on the dance floor at the Coastline in Cherry Hill. Legendary disc jockey Jerry Blavat was spinning oldies of the 50s and 60 when the Coastline first opened 37 years ago. The "Geator" says it was a hot place to be.
"In Philadelphia at one time you had the blue laws," Blavat said. "Everyone on Sunday wanted to party, so they would go over to New Jersey to these wonderful clubs."
Fifty-six-year-old Robert Secouler was a bouncer at the bar in the late 1980s. He has fond memories of the place.
"It was a heck of a time, I'll tell you that much," Secouler said. "I bounced there for a few years, but we used to hang there. When we didn't bounce we would hang out there. There were like three of us, and when we weren't working, we were hanging there."
And in recent years, in addition to Top 40 Night, live acts were brought in like IconaPop.
Many past employees and customers had planned to stop by the Coastline for a one last drink to say goodbye before it closed.