Is There a Buyer for Mom's Diner?

Mom's Diner might have found a new lease on life.

Several readers of the have expressed interest in purchasing the classic 1950s diner, located on Route 1 in Avenel next to the .

Both properties are slated for demolition to make way for a gas station and a convenience store as part of the township's plan to revitalize the Route 1 corridor.

Art Sommers, an antique buff, is interested in investigating purchasing the diner and moving it to his Wall Township property.

"I'm looking for an old diner that I can add to a private museum," Sommers said.

He is a big fan of antique cars and Civil War artifacts, and he was searching for a diner to add to his private collection.

His private museum is used by organizations such as the Monmouth County Antiques Club, he said.

"I had purchased a diner from the 1930s that was in Massachusetts," Sommers said. "While I was trying to arrange to have it moved, it was sold out from under me."

The Massachusetts diner, which Sommers said was "fully operational", would have cost $35,000. That was a drop in the bucket, though, compared to the cost of moving it from Massachusetts to the Garden State.

"Getting it here would have cost $60,000," Sommers said, a sum which was outside his price range.

Mom's Diner is in almost "pristine condition," according to Daniel Zilka, who runs the American Diner Museum, based in Rhode Island. (See on Mom's Diner for a slew of interior pictures.)

Zilka tries to relocate imperiled diners around the country as a means of preserving the nation's diner heritage.

Mom's Diner is selling for $20,000 or "best offer" - and the owners are seriously motivated, since the diner will either be sold or demolished.

Stay tuned for Mom's Diner updates! Daniel Zelka, who can be reached for information about the diner sale, has his website at americandinermuseum.org; he can also be reached at 401-723-4342.