200-Year-Old Chez Odette Restaurant On The Move In New Hope

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NEW HOPE, Pa. (CBS) -- A historic building in New Hope was on the move on Wednesday, as the former restaurant is moving to make way for a luxury hotel.

It's not everyday you see a 200-year old building coming down the street. Onlookers marveled as the historic Chez Odette restaurant was put on metal beams, lifted and driven down River Road in New Hope.

The restaurant, hotel, and at one point a cabaret spot, had been at its original site since 1794.

A new boutique hotel is slotted to take its prime place at the location near the river. But so many here in New Hope are happy the Chez Odette was not demolished and instead preserved and moved nearby.

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Dozens of people lined along the historic building's route.

"What is so exciting about this is, first of all, I am originally from Switzerland and we have old buildings," Daniella Kovalcik said. "I got married in a church that was 800 years old, so for New Hope to preserve this building and not tear it down is just so absolutely amazing.

"But I am just so touched, I am thrilled because there are not many buildings in this country yet that are preserved and that are old."

The Chez Odette is slated to become an interpretive center, which will review the history of the nearby canal.

The boutique hotel is scheduled to open in 2020.