Pocono News Section

Jim Thorpe Landmark Diner Removed

Jim Thorpe Landmark Diner Removed - Friday, July 18, 2008 at 5:29PM EST

Reported by: Jeff Chirico
Friday, Jul 18, 2008 @ 05:29pm EST
JIM THORPE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY --A popular Carbon County landmark is on it's way to Ohio right now. The old Sunrise Diner was loaded on a truck and pulled out of Jim Thorpe. It sat on Hazard Square in the center of town for fifty years. Our Jeff Chirico was there to see the fond farewell.

The Sunrise Diner was a local hot spot for everyone from judges and lawyers to the folks heading to work in factories. But tough times closed the diner last year. But it's not the end of that diner.

A borough that preserves much of its past loses part of it. "It is an icon in the town." The Sunrise Diner served folks for more than fifty years.

Ed McArdle: "Used to have a 99 cent special all the time."

Friday, the Jim Thorpe eatery sat on a truck Losing it's spot in the center of town "It has a lot of memories." But not in the hearts of locals.

Meg Dougherty: "When we were in high school, Sunday afternoon you walk to diner and visit with friends."

Nathan Brewster: "My grandmother every time I came here she'd make me eggs and bacon and French Toast."

But last year, the hey day ended.

Bernadette Behan/co-owner : "Unfortunately a dollar cup of coffee a day doesn't pay bills." So its owners want to make way for a deck on their other neighboring restaurant. “We tried to give it away."

The future of the sunrise is bright. Once workers sure up the diner, it'll make it's way to Ohio where it will be restored and resold.

"Someday we'll find out where it is and visit it again."

By mid-morning, the sixty foot classic pulls away. Folks take one last shot as the sunsets on their beloved “sunrise.”

You can watch the progress of the diner's restoration online.