A historic diner has found a new home and a new purpose with Isles Inc.
Isles is a Trenton-based nonprofit that has been making the area a better place to live and work since 1981 by providing a school and training facility for kids that have fallen out of the public education system, according to David Schrayer, Isles’ Mill One director.
”We also work to make homes more affordable, lead free and energy efficient,” Mr. Schrayer said. “We’re working on several planning and organizing activities including cataloguing vacant buildings in Trenton and we have an extensive network of urban gardens that we support. The Mill One project will host a new regional nonprofit center that will provide office and other space at affordable rates for nonprofits serving the area.”
The historic Calhoun Street Diner, which was moved from Route 1 in Lawrenceville on June 18, was donated to Isles and Modern Recycled Spaces by its owner, SSL Realty Holding. Modern Recycled Spaces and Isles relocated the diner to be adjacent to their 200,000-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment of an old factory building known as Mill One. Mill One is located at the intersection of Nottingham Way and North Johnston Avenue in Hamilton.
”Saving the diner preserves an important part of our cultural heritage, reduces the burden on landfills and provides a unique venue for future activities at Mill One,” Mr. Schrayer said. “There are very few actual diners still in use in the area. It’s our hope that the diner will be a significant attraction bringing people to the Mill One site that wouldn’t otherwise find themselves in Hamilton.”The cost to move the diner was about $30,000, according to Mr. Schrayer.
The project coordinators anticipate the overall cost of putting the diner back into service at close to $100,000.
”Our goal for the initial crowd funding campaign is $50,000,” Mr. Schrayer said. “The URL for this campaign is https://www.crowdrise.com/savethediner.”
The funds raised will be used to make structural repairs, cosmetic repairs and updates as well as for a new roof, according to Mr. Schrayer.
With its growing network of community and school gardens, Isles plans to incorporate the diner into additional classroom space for vocational training, including food preparation efforts.
”Preserving the diner fits in to the Mill One project really well because that project is also about finding a suitable new use for an old structure,” Mr. Schrayer said.
According to information provided by Ilses, the diner is thought to have been built by the Mountain View Diner Company in the early 1950s. Originally located in Trenton, it was first known as the Calhoun Street Diner. The diner was moved to Lawrenceville in the 1960s where it also had the monikers the Cass Diner, Giordano Diner, and Ben’s Diner, according to Isles.
The diner was listed on Preservation New Jersey’s Ten Most Endangered Diners list of 2010 and its 2104 Ten Most Endangered Historic Sites.
For additional information or to make a donation to support the diner, contact David Schrayer, Isles’ Mill One director, at 609-341-4792 or 609-731-2156 or [email protected].

