Entrepreneur Harry Chrysan (1919-1987) opened his first business, a gas station in Dearborn in 1945.
By the 1950's Harry and Gwen Chrysan were living in a large home at 1170 Claremont, Dearborn.
Presumably their kids, Bonnie, Patricia, Carolyn and William all went to Dearborn schools including Dearborn High.
In 1953 Chrysan Incorporated his holdings as Avonster Corporation.
By 1961 Harry had expanded in the auto care space by opening Chrysan's Car Wash at 3535 S. Telegraph.
These cash businesses were succesful enough that they funded his next enterprise, The Dearborn Towne House Motel. Located at 2101 S. Telegraph, the motel was a few blocks north of the car wash and immediately south of Delsoy Products, the manufacturer of "Presto-Whip" desert toppings. Their huge 25 Ft. Presto-Whip storage canisters were landmarks on Telegraph for decades.
The new motel featured 101 Air Conditioned "luxury" rooms in 3 distinct sections; A, B and C. It catered to truckers, out of town businessmen visiting Ford Motor Company and regular suburban swingers from as far away as Canada. During its construction in 1962 a cinderblock wall collapsed, resulting in the death of a construction worker.
By June of 1965 Chrysan was offering food and beverages in the cocktail lounge space on the main level of the motel. Local advertising started for his "Club Elegante" targeting locals and overnight guests that were looking for an entertaining evening out. The demographic was partly the large World War two era adults now reaching middle age seeking good food, a good time and songs from their youth. In short, dinner and easy listening/dancing music was frequent. Harry Chrysan was in his forties at this time and booked entertainment he liked, such as the Carlisle Sisters.
1965 was one year post the Beatles arrival and attendance for the older acts was soon eclipsed by pop bookings that drew younger audiences. To diversify, Chrysan eventually opened two new clubs in the complex; first the "The Side Door" in the basement and later, the risque "Hotsy Totsy Room" on the second floor.
The partial nude entertainers of the Hotsy Totsy Room really pushed the envelope of taste and of what was legal in Dearborn at the time, but piqued the interest of the swingers, truckers and travelers. When it opened in 1969 it featured the Ladybirds who (allegedly) were ejected from Mexico for the content of their act.
The Side Door was a big draw for the younger set and featured a number of great local bands, some of which would hold extended residencies. Locals remember fun nights out dancing to Terry and the Six Topics (the number of "Topics" changed over time) or Little Reuben and the Jive Five.
In the mid-sixties beer was the legal intoxicant of choice and lounges like these drew people in with popular music and sold a truckload of suds. The Side Door also extended its profitable hours to the daytime by posting go-go dancers for the guests, truckers and locals to drink by.
Architecturally, the upstairs lounge space at the motel was converted from former guest rooms overlooking Telegraph Rd. Although the exact dates of expansion are not documented, their solution was to extend the room out and westward as a second story overhang above the parking lot. In 1970 this was advertised as "The Side Door Upstairs". Records indicate that topless entertainment was then relegated to the basement space previous occupied by the original "Side Door".
Per Dearborn Historical Museum images, in 1971 the overhang lounge had continued to expand with new construction and could now seat 800 people -- quite a sizable venue. A Dearborn Historical Museum photo captured the Marquee displaying a three night run for White soul legend Wayne Cochran and his band the C.C. Riders September 26-28, 1971.
Chrysan contunued to book entertainment for these three rooms well into the '70's. Occasionally he could indulge his own tastes and hire some international jazz legends. An 800 seat room like the Side Door Upstairs made it possible to cover greats like Harry James in 1970 and Duke Ellington in 1973.
The property was on the radar of the Police and city fathers who did not like such eyesore, problematic businesses along major thoroughfares.
Sometime in the eighties the Motel would be sold off to the discount Super 8 chain before ultimately being aquired by the LaFontaine Automotive group who repurposed the structures as a car dealership.
Harry Chrysan also opened the Dearborn Athletic Club next door at - 2145 Telegraph. c.1974. It too was popular with young singles. It was the only business he was operating at the time of his death at age 68 in 1987.
