Old Vietnamese Restaurant Demolished As JC Demolitions Wind Down
A Johnson City building that for years housed a restaurant opened by Vietnamese refugees has been torn down.
The structure at 29 Willow Street was demolished by workers with Gorick Construction Company on Monday.
Trung Truong and his family opened the Mekong Restaurant at the site in 1993. The Truongs operated the business for nearly two decades.
The Truongs escaped Vietnam in a boat in 1978. St. Mary's Church in Apalachin sponsored the family, allowing them to settle in the United States. They eventually moved to Johnson City and operated the restaurant.
More recently, the family rented the building to the operators of the Phuong Nam restaurant.
The Binghamton University Foundation acquired the property in December 2019. About two dozen buildings in the neighborhood are being removed as part of a university project to create greenspace around its Health Sciences Campus on Corliss Avenue.
A large house next to the site of the former restaurant remains to be demolished.
Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or (607) 772-8400 extension 233.
For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.
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