Power tools buzzed and hammers thwacked on a recent morning at O’Rourke’s Diner as workers busily prepared for the diner’s official opening next Monday, Feb. 11th.
The story of the beloved diner’s rise from the ashes of a midnight fire touched the entire Middletown community, spurring the creation of a diverse coalition that came together to help out in their hour of need.
“You talk about a melting pot, this diner was a melting pot,” said Lance, a manager at O’Rourke’s. “You’d have the mayor of Middletown sitting down eating breakfast and next to him you have a homeless person.”
The appreciation for the diner was apparent in the community’s reaction to the rebuilding effort.
“It’s been a monumental community effort,” said Jane McMillan, partner in the law firm Howard & McMillan, which helped coordinate the reconstruction process. “We’ve had hundreds of volunteers. Many contractors donated their time. Over 2,000 people have given money [to help cover the diner’s approximately $350,000 bill].”
Individual contributions and a bank loan covered the majority of the costs. The city of Middletown itself had a hand in the rebuilding effort, providing a $25,000 “façade” grant which helped to restore the diner’s neon sign, a longtime Middletown landmark that has drawn numerous celebrities as well as ordinary citizens.
“Clint Eastwood, he’s been here twice for breakfast,” said Larry, who has been O’Rourke’s short-order cook for 25 years. “[He’s a] regular outgoing person. [He] shook a couple customers’ hands, joked with the customers.”
Larry also cited Bill Cosby, Ted Kennedy and Bill Belichick ’75 as repeat customers, noting that Kennedy’s son, a Wesleyan alumnus, was a “big patron.”
Lance was quick to point out, however, that the diner does not proactively cater to celebrities.
“It’s a community diner,” he said.
“It’s great to have those people [celebrities] in here, but it’s not what we care about. We treat everyone the same when they walk through the door.”
University students have historically appreciated O’Rourke’s hospitality. Several fraternities, sports teams and student organizations have volunteered their time for the rebuilding effort. The University’s administration contributed as well, allowing O’Rourke to take his pick from the furniture at the old Davenport campus center and MoCon dining hall.
The outpouring of support comes as no surprise to Brian O’Rourke, and he is grateful for it.
“The diner is a community within a community,” he said. “The diner is a way of life. There’s been a diner here since the 1920s.”
O’Rourke cooked his first order of eggs at the diner in 1962, and has worked there ever since. His uncle, John R. O’Rourke, founded O’Rourke’s in 1941. In 1977 Brian and cousin John Sweeney O’Rourke bought out John R., and in 1985, Brian bought out his cousin. His stewardship of the diner ran continually to 2006, when the diner burned down. Brian had no fire insurance at the time.
The new diner will feature new menu items to complement the new building.
“In recent months, since he’s been working at It’s Only Natural, he’s gotten a better picture of how in demand [vegetarian and vegan] items are,” Lance said. In addition to the vegan and vegetarian items, O’Rourke’s will also feature Tibetan food a few days a week, courtesy of one of the cooks at the former Tibetan restaurant next door.
All new musical events will highlight certain weekday evenings.
“Monday nights we’ll try to do an Irish dinner with Irish music,” said Brian. “We’ll have a few fiddlers, a few singers.”
O’Rourke may join in himself; he plays the Irish whistle.