Waffle Shop
The Waffle Shop served food to a local clientele for 57 years before closing in 2007. Although it served a variety of food items common to lunch counter establishments, its specialty was waffle dishes of various types. Among local preservation groups, the Waffle Shop was considered a landmark, mostly due to its 1950's art moderne, interior and exterior design.
Along with its unique atmosphere, and due in part to its affordability, it attracted a regular and diverse customer base. My sense is that businesses that play host to such communities of people go a long way in building some of the social fabric that help to hold societies together. Alternatively, I imagine that if enough such places disappear, we loose some sense of our social commonality.
The story of the Waffle Shop's demise is a familiar one. Residing for many decades within a zone of prime downtown real estate, any benefits it offered in the way of affordable eating or social cohesion could not compete with what the property owner and developer would stand to gain in the form of office building revenue. As a compromise, an agreement was reached between the owner and local preservation groups that would relocate the Waffle Shop, along with as much of the original appliances and hardware that could be salvaged, to a new location nearby.
As I write this, a new Waffle Shop is being built. Of course, it won't be the same. With such recreations, something is always sacrificed. Something organic. Something that gets down to the essence of a thing or place. Like trying to replant a forest, it's never quite the same.
