FENTON — Stan Kelton’s childhood stories make it sound like he’s older than 75.
He grew up in a cabin here, along the Meramec River, that didn’t have running water until he was a teenager. After school, he and his friends would cut their beagles loose to hunt rabbits and squirrels all over Fenton.
Of course, Chrysler, which opened the first of two factories here in 1959, dramatically changed the Mayberry vibe.
“You used to be able to spit on the ground,†said Kelton. “Now, you can’t. There’s too much concrete.â€
He was seated below a rack of elk horns and bear skin at Joe Clark’s Restaurant. At the same time, wrecking crews were eating into the walls of the old Stratford Inn, another one-of-a-kind destination in town about which many people hold memories.
People are also reading…
The large, two-story hotel once had a red, double-decker bus parked in front along Interstate 44. The bar and restaurant hosted countless parties and concerts — anything from United Auto Worker banquets to MMA fights to tribute bands. In particular, patrons packed in for New Year’s Eve.
“It was quite the deal in its day,†said Kelton, who’d go there to dance to live country music.
Like many things, though, time and the value of money apparently caught up with the storied inn — and for many of the people who stayed there for a warm night off the streets or longer term.
“I slept in there once,†said Kelton. “It was horrible. My gal says, ‘We’ll never stay here again.’â€
But the Stratford was way more than another fleabag. It was a colorful destination, one that brought crowds of people together in the sprawling suburb for decades.
Michael Scauzzo’s family owned it more than 20 years. In a lengthy interview, his reflections teetered between pride and dread.
“Fortunately, I am no longer there,†said Scauzzo, 55, of Fenton, who ran the bar and restaurant.
He said the building was vacant and covered in vines when his parents bought the place at auction in the early 1990s. It first opened in 1967 as a Ramada Inn. He wasn’t sure when it became The Stratford Inn, but that’s the name his family went with after authorities didn’t support their initial idea to run the complex as a senior living center.
For years, Scauzzo said his family balanced cash flow by allowing about half of the hotel clientele to stay by the week. Some were truckers. Some were retirees getting Social Security and pension checks who chose to live at the Stratford or keep it as a home base.
“Howard Hughes lived in a hotel,†Scauzzo said. “Endless hot water. Maid service. Hell, it sounds like a great deal to me.â€
When his family sold the business in 2018, there were dozens of people living there long term, including homeless adults and children enrolled in Rockwood School District. Fenton officials were troubled by the high volume of emergency calls for service. The building was condemned during the sale, and numerous people were given just a few days to find somewhere else to live before Thanksgiving. The new owner couldn’t get it reopened.
Scauzzo said he was unfairly criticized for the decline after years of passed inspections.
“They ran this narrative on me that was just unbelievable,†he said.
His mood brightened with recollections of better days and especially the nights — like when country singer Tracy Byrd and Bret Michaels of Poison played solo gigs. He said FireHouse, Warrant and many other bands also rocked the place. DJs filled in points between.
“New Year’s Eve, I would do 2,000 people for dinner and open bar,†Scauzzo said. “Great time. Oh, my gosh, the best New Year’s parties. Period. Nothing would come close.â€
Diana McLain, 64, a clerk at nearby Davis Tool and Die, said she only heard of ringing in the New Year there. She never went.
“We would hit it for happy hour,†she said. “They always had good prices, food and typically a band.â€
Her bookkeeping colleague, June Petit, lived at the Stratford three months when she was in transition. She needed a place to move into quickly with her blind dog.
“I had to find a place that would take him and me until I found a place I really wanted to move to,†said Petit, 78.
Petit and others who work in the area want it gone. It has been dark and vacant for several years. There was a fire in January 2022.
“It was getting really scary,†said Petit.
Infinity Hospitality LLC is the current owner. A representative of the firm said it is paying for the costly cleanup and demolition. The representative said the future is unclear for the site.
“We are waiting and kind of excited about what will go in there,†said Fenton Mayor Joe Maurath.
Speaking to the burial of a local establishment, he said “any productive city realizes they are going to have turnover.†He said it wasn’t the city’s fault that the building was poorly maintained. He said the structure wasn’t equipped to be an extended-stay hotel.
“You are going to see situations, like the Stratford, where the old becomes the new,†he said, looking ahead.
Still, Maurath has fond memories of the past.
He said the Stratford was a popular destination for post-prom gatherings when he attended Lindbergh High School in the early 1970s and later for New Year’s.
“We certainly went there and partied,†he said.
Even members of the Spirtas wrecking crew knew the Stratford.
“They are trying to get rid of an eyesore, but back in the day, this place was happening,†said Neil Higgins, 57.
Higgins said he saw a Kiss tribute band play there. It was a more prosperous time. Thousands of people were still working across the interstate at Chrysler, which pulled out of Fenton in 2009.
The Stratford has since been stripped of valuable metals, including from the rooftop air conditioners, which allowed water to get in.
“The exterior is alright,†Higgins said. “It’s the interior that’s entirely depleted.â€
But there is enough time and material left for one last request.
The demolition crew was asked to save a pile of bricks from the rubble pile for those who want a keepsake from the Stratford Inn.