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| By G. Michael Dobbs Managing Editor SPRINGFIELD Former Springfield resident Dan Boyle has come back to his one-time hometown to retire sort of. Boyle, a long-time theatrical producer based out of Baltimore, Md., has left the stage and entered the kitchen. He is bringing a restored vintage 1950s diner to property he owns on Main Street in the North End. Boyle, who intends to work the over-night shift himself, described the new role as a restaurant owner as his "retirement." He is now waiting for the Commonwealth to approve a route on which the diner can be hauled into the state. Once that is settled and the diner arrives, Boyle said it would be another two to three weeks before the restaurant can open. Boyle explained to Reminder Publications that he was inspired by the various food carts in the North End and was thinking of some sort of outdoor eatery to put on his property at 2519 Main St. One day, he was searching for counter stools for his outdoor café on the Internet. He found the stools, but he also found the White Crystal Diner at Diversified Diners in Cleveland, Ohio. The diner, first built in 1955, had been a fixture in Atlantic Highland, NJ, from 1960 until 2000. In 2003, Steve Harwin of Diversified Diners, a company that restores diners, took ownership. Boyle found out about the White Crystal in December of 2004 and the project "snowballed from there," he said. Boyle traveled to Ohio to see the White Crystal and said it was "totally un-restored." "It was the biggest pile of junk enamel and old stainless steel," he said. He could see what it could be, though, and bought the diner and commissioned its restoration. He added that he could have just built a new building for a restaurant, but wanted to have "an angle." "What better angle is there than a 1955 diner?" he said with a smile. The White Crystal is a 15-stool diner with two counters and no booths. It's about half the size of a diner such as Route 66 on Bay Street, he said. The menu is standard diner fare hot dogs, hamburgers and a daily blue plate special along with a selection of Hispanic offerings as well. Boyle is planning to use as many local vendors as possible. For example he wants to feature Chicopee Blue Seal hot dogs at his diner. Boyle and his manager and cook Angelo Moutopoulous plan to have the diner open 24 hours a day and will feature breakfast all day. Boyle estimated a crew of 12 would run the business. He thinks that take-out and the over-night business will be the keys to the diner's success. He noted that Mayor Charles Ryan and the New North Citizens Council have been very supportive of his enterprise and that his web site (www.whitecrystaldiner.com) has attracted the attention of diner fans from around the country. |