To meet a growing demand for recovery meetings, Malvern Center was founded in 1965 and has moved four times since. If you have photos of any of the Center’s past locations, we’d love to see them. Email to questions at malverncenter.org.

In the mid-1960s there wasn’t a recovery clubhouse on the western end of Chester County. The closest one to Paoli and Malvern was the West Chester 307 Club (known at the time as the 319 Clubhouse). In order to support the creation of a new clubhouse, we first needed to establish a group that would make its home base there. The Paoli Group was founded in 1962-1963 and once they had enough members, Malvern Center was launched in 1965.

Eight people from the Paoli Group were largely responsible for that happening – Marshall M., Bob T., Ken K., Claire R., Beth S., Katie B., Elaine Z. and Ken Z.

Soon after it opened, three groups became active at Malvern Center, helping us to stabilize its funding – The Paoli Group, the King of Prussia Group. and Ludwig’s Corner. A little later, the Devon Group, founded by Ken, Bob D., and Dan B., got involved as well.

Due to its success and the increase in attendees, the Center moved down the street to 36 E. King Street in 1971, and was incorporated as a 501(c)3 non-profit.

Both King Street locations were less than ideal given the proximity of bars and limited parking. Meetings at the King Street locations had 10 to 15 people, other than on Monday nights, when attendance could balloon to 40.

In 1974, we moved to 446 Lancaster Ave. (at the corner of Routes 30 and 352). That location had three rooms: the front (which became the meeting room), the middle (which became the social room), and the back (which was originally lived in by a steward paid by Malvern Center).

Dances were started, a baseball team formed, and banquets were held at offsite facilities to fellowship and raise funds.

As attendance grew, the middle wall was knocked out so more people could hear the speaker. An exhaust fan was added, but it was not adequate to “do the job.” Separation of smokers and non-smokers was handled by hanging a sign from the ceiling in the middle of the room directing smokers to sit on one side of the narrow room and non-smokers to sit on the other (which never worked). There was no air conditioning so meetings during warm weather were challenging at best. The roof leaked but everyone knew where to put the pots to catch the rain as it dripped into the meeting area.

The number of meetings continued to grow as did overall attendance. Most attendees were willing to look beyond the Center’s physical shortcomings and focus instead on obtaining and maintaining their sobriety. Despite its challenges, the 446 location is remembered fondly.

In 1993, Malvern Center moved to 10 Liberty Blvd in the Great Valley Shopping Center and expanded in 1995. It provided separate smoking and non-smoking sections, three bathrooms, and handicap accessibility. The location saw numerous dances and parties and was known for its unofficial “midnight meeting” on the sidewalk for many years. In 2008, Pennsylvania outlawed public smoking and the Center followed suit.

Many of today’s “old timers” got their start at this location.

We might have stayed at 10 Liberty Boulevard indefinitely had it not been for the future plans of the Shopping Center’s owner, who envisioned a brand new set of buildings at that location. The Center moved to its current location in April 2018.

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