JAY — The owner of the Farmington Diner hopes to use parts from a second, nearly identical one in North Jay to restore and reopen hers.

The Farmington Diner was originally was moved to East Wilton in 2008 to save it from destruction. The Silver Diner was moved to Route 4 in North Jay from Waterbury, Conn., last summer as part of Rachel Jackson Hodsdon’s goal to reopen her Farmington Diner.

“It’s more cost-effective to use the parts from one to replace missing and damaged parts,” she said. She wants to restore the Farmington Diner to its early 1950 style, or as close as she can get to it. 

“It’s the same setup. Even the counter and corner table are the same,” she said.

Like the Farmington Diner, the Silver Diner was sitting on property that developers purchased and it needed to be moved or destroyed, she said.

Both were built by Mountain View Diner Co. in the early 1950s. The Silver Diner was originally the Lafayette Diner in Easton, Pa., she said. Hodsdon said she is unsure whether it was moved from Easton directly to Waterbury in 1993 where it remained till last August.

It was moved to her husband’s property on Route 4 in North Jay on Aug. 12, 2011.

Hodsdon has secured an architect’s help for the Farmington Diner restoration and is searching for a location and grants to finance the work.

“Sometimes it’s scary. The prices start adding up,” she said.

Her goal is not just a diner that uses locally grown food, but possibly holding cooking classes for the community, she said. 

“It will be really cool when it happens,” she added.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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