Juvenile Delinquents Don't Hang Out in Diners, They Restore Them
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 07.15.08
We love restoration and preservation; we also love a good diner. There is nothing like a classic American diner, except nobody goes to them anymore, McDonalds is so much more convenient. "These were places where Americans dawdled, debated and dated, kibitzing over sliders (sausage patties), sinkers (donuts), and Adam and Eve on a raft (poached eggs on toast)."
But at the Rhode Island Training School, four classic diners are being rebuilt from the ground up by teen offenders. Pam Belluck writes in the New York Times: "The whole poetry behind it is that these are kids who have been pretty much cast away emotionally and criminally, getting a chance to restore beloved eateries that have been cast off from society, too," said Daniel Zilka, the acting director of the American Diner Museum, who rescues decrepit diners and helps run the project.
"We're actually preparing them for all kinds of skills: there's ceramic tile in these diners, sheet metal work, plumbing, electrical. You always meet people who want these kids to be locked away, and I respect their ill-informed opinion. But I look at the training school as kind of like Home Depot of the correctional system. We give them the tools, and when they're ready to use it, they'll use it."
Other offenders are learning to cook, and will have jobs in the diner when it re-opens; just be sure to leave a good tip. ::IHT see also the New Hope Diner Project website.
A Diner Update:
Section 8 - A Bar in a Shipping Container
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I wonder if any of the delinquents are there because they built a ball park :)
I hope they let the kids go through the "battle" of getting permits and dealing with zoning issues to "place" the diners once they're done.
It would be ashame to have them learn to do all this work and create something only to have a township or city govt tell them there's no place for a diner.
Lloyd, judging by this article you have never been to Connecticut or New Jersey as diners rule supreme here. Very few fast food places here are open 24/7 because of competition from the diners...maybe thats because at anyone of these diners the menu is the size of a phone book.
It's good to see people teaching these kids being taught something useful instead of just sitting around reading about leitmotifs and metaphors (and this is an English major speaking). Good article.
fantastic project
I lived in the Inland Empire area of Southern California for many years. I rarely saw these true old diners in this "classic" sense -- although Denny's revamped many of its restaurants to look like diners -- but there are many Mom and Pop-type restaurants that just say "Eat" high on a pole, easily seen from the freeway. These often were my favorite places to eat. After all, everyone should be called "Hon" by a waitress at least once in her life.
Hats off to this project!
I lived in the Inland Empire area of Southern California for many years. I rarely saw these true old diners in this "classic" sense -- although Denny's revamped many of its restaurants to look like diners -- but there are many Mom and Pop-type restaurants that just say "Eat" high on a pole, easily seen from the freeway. These often were my favorite places to eat. After all, everyone should be called "Hon" by a waitress at least once in her life.
Hats off to this project!