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Tastee Diner move draws tears, optimism
by Theodore Kim
Gazette Staff Writer
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June 21, 2000
The truck lumbered up Georgia Avenue
on Saturday, hauling 65 years of history on its flatbed trailer.
On a soggy evening, workers transported the classic front cab of
Silver Spring's venerable Tastee Diner from the corner of Georgia and
Wayne avenues to a new location on Cameron Street, several blocks away.
Eunice Ramsey, a diner waitress for 44 years, wept as workers slid steel
beams underneath the dining car in preparation for the move. It will reopen
in July at the new location. She said she will miss the old location dearly.
"It's hard to explain what keeps you doing one thing for a long time,"
Ramsey said. "But, it's the customers that make it worth it. ... I've had
a lot of memories here. It'll always be a part of me."
Saturday's move, delayed by nine hours because of difficulties lifting the
structure, sets the stage for utility work to begin next month on
Discovery Communications' future headquarters, which will sit on Tastee's
old site. The global media firm is relocating from overcrowded offices in
Bethesda.
In addition, the diner's relocation signifies a tangible step toward
advancing Silver Spring's nearly $1 billion ongoing urban renewal.
"This is a case where we're building the new, while preserving the old,"
said County Councilman Steven Silverman (D-At large) of Silver Spring,
addressing a crowd of about 100 residents, activists and local officials
who showed up to witness the diner's move on Saturday morning.
The classic cab will be fused together with a new restaurant being built
at the corner of Cameron Street and Ramsey Avenue. It will open in
mid-July, said Manager John C. Littleton.
Built in 1935 and reconstructed with its art-deco dining car in 1946, the
Tastee Diner has become a revered landmark for local residents, devoted
patrons and historical preservationists.
In the late 1980s, activists fought hard to preserve the establishment
from being demolished. Eventually, the diner was designated by the county
as a historical landmark.
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