The 1950’s-style diner that served as the home-away-from-home for four young men in the 1981 film “Diner” will soon serve as the work site for vocational-education students in the city of Baltimore.
The 67-seat diner was donated to the city by a local radio station and will be used to train seniors enrolled in the Baltimore school system’s food-service program.
“We think it’s going to be the only diner run by kids in the United States,” said Fontaine Sullivan, volunteer coordinator for Mayor William D. Schaefer. She said the mayor had “wished for a diner” and when the management at the radio station learned of his wish, they contacted the New Jersey firm that had leased the one used in the movie, which was filmed in Baltimore.
The city has established a diner task force to prepare for the grand opening. “This is a project where so many people have caught the vision,” Ms. Sullivan said of the volunteers, whose contributions have saved the city thousands of dollars, she noted.
“Giving a city a diner,” Ms. Sullivan said, “is not like giving it a picture to hang on the wall.”
Local businesses have donated equipment and labor and, according to Ms. Sullivan, the Marriott Corporation has been working with school officials to develop a food-service training program that will enable students who work at the diner to become eligible for employment with the company after graduation.
Marva Randolph, education specialist for the school system’s office of home economics, said the Kids Diner will be located near City Hall so that it can take advantage of the downtown pedestrian activity.
“This is strictly an educational opportunity,” she said, adding that the work-study program will provide the students with management and service training.
