After 75 years, the iconic North Shore restaurant Kowloon will shut off its bright neon lights and trade its unique, larger-than-life tiki decor for a more modern look, complete with commercial spaces and almost 200 apartments. 

The restaurant located in Saugus, Massachusetts, a city of 29,050, is known for its iconic design, flaming scorpion bowls, and renowned Saugus wings, making it one of the “icons” of Route 1, attracting celebrities such as John Cena, Dwayne Johnson, and the Goo Goo Dolls, whose autographs still adorn the restaurant’s walls. Earlier this month, its owners announced plans to tear down the beloved restaurant, leaving customers who have been celebrating there for countless years reminiscing on the well-known building and how Saugus and Route 1 are changing. 

“All the icons are going …The Hilltop or Weylu’s, the things that made Route 1 are all going away,” said Julia Eilleri, a repeat customer of Kowloon from Malden.

Luckily for its many devoted customers, the restaurant Kowloon is not gone forever, but the iconic building will be. The restaurant will be reduced to a 200-seat restaurant with a new drive-through and outdoor seating in the other building. While the rest of the building will be converted into two mixed-use buildings, with the first floor of both buildings housing commercial retail space. After the first building is constructed, the restaurant will move to a temporary space inside that building. Once the second building is finalized, the restaurant will move to the second building, taking up 20,000 square feet compared to its current nearly 60,000-square-foot space.

The construction is predicted to take 14 months, according to Michael McKeown, a partner at Dennis Mires The Architects, who designed the proposal. However, the project was originally predicted to take an estimated 20 months—over five years ago. There is no official current schedule for when the construction will begin.

Kowloon, as it stands today, has a distinct triangle shape and big bold red letters spelling out its name that make it stand out from the other stores off Route 1. The 30-foot Tiki god statue with two historic “foo dogs” that used to guard Boston’s Chinatown Gate also sits at Kowloon’s entrance. Upon walking inside, guests are transported to a Polynesian environment in the middle of New England. 

“It’s like a local landmark… I think people who grow up on the North Shore of Massachusetts just know it because everyone drives up and down Route 1 at some point,” Matt Albren, a creative writing graduate student at Emerson who grew up in Tewksbury, said. “It’s a very specific and unique building. It doesn’t even seem like a restaurant sometimes.”

“It’s [just] something that’s always there,” Albren continued. 

Kowloon planned to renovate it’s property over five years ago. And since then, rumors have circulated that Kowloon would shut down. In response, the restaurant explained on X in 2021 that changes to the property likely would not take effect for years in the future.  

“It’s such a demanding life. And there will be an end at some point,” the post said.

In August of 2022, the owners presented more detailed residential zoning plans to the Saugus Planning Board for permitting. On Oct. 2 of this year, the architectural plans and project details were presented once again to the planning board. The presentation outlined plans for two buildings with retail space on the first floor and five stories of one-bedroom apartments. There will be a total of 198 units. The first building will have both retail space and parking on the first floor.

McKeown told the planning board that the design plan is to build something modern with splashes of color “that is built to last,” per the wishes of the Wong family, who own the property. There will also be “a little of homage to signage to let people know this is still the Kowloon site … the hope is to have a really cherished experience here at the building,”

But for people who live north of Boston, Kowloon and its design are seen as a staple of the Route 1 highway and its glory days, and shouldn’t be touched.

“It is sort of one of the last old restaurants on Route 1, it’s just always been there, and you knew what you were going to get,” Eric Doetsch of Melrose reminisced. “It was very dependable.” 

Melody Lewis, an employee at the neighboring Red Roof hotel, said she was unaware of the proposal. She thinks it would be unfortunate if they take away “a culture outside of Boston that we haven’t seen.” Lewis added that this renovation echoes a larger real estate trend she has seen, where older buildings and businesses are leveled to create apartments.

“In the Saugus area, it’s not good,” she said. 

Many agreed with this sentiment, questioning the project’s intentions and other similar projects.

“If people are saddened about this, write a letter or do something,” said Donna Slavin, who was visiting the North Shore from California. She agreed that housing is an issue everywhere and that in her community, they are also tearing down buildings and green spaces for new apartments. 

“[Kowloon] seems to be a hotspot for a lot of people … I don’t know if [the owners] are making decisions with their heart or with their wallet,” she said.

Residents are also worried that new housing will add to the already existing concerns surrounding traffic and congestion along Route 1.

“It’s already an aggressive road,” Eilleri said, adding that the proposed 200-unit housing structure will be serviced by roadways with only three lanes of traffic. 

Some patrons said they understand that it is time for a change for both Kowloon and the Wong Family, who have overseen the business for over 75 years.

“[It’s] not the job of the owners to keep a legendary place alive, ” Rinaldi said. “We like the nostalgia, but we also really enjoy trying new things.”

Wong expressed bittersweet emotions about tearing down the building during a CBS interview earlier this month.

“Growing up and seeing this place as it is today and knowing that in the near future it will no longer be here is bittersweet,” he said.