Fans of Stratford's Blue Sky Diner will be happy to know the longtime diner, closed since early July (see story below), is on its way to reopening.
"I am happy to announce that the structural repairs were started earlier this week," owner Nikos Avramopoulos told Stratford Patch. "We plan to reopen the diner within four to six weeks."
Avramopoulos said he'd like to thank his customers for their support and loyalty, and that an event will be held the day before the official reopening. He said customers can keep themselves updated on the progress of the diner by visiting the Blue Sky's website.
Our original article, published July 9, follows.
Blue Sky Diner Closes Following Building Inspection
The owner of the longtime Stratford diner says he hopes to reopen in about a month.
Published July 9
Town officials last week ordered the immediate closure of the following a structural engineer's inspection of the longtime Stratford diner.
"The engineer said we had to replace some I-beams," said owner Nikos Avramopoulos, who hopes to reopen in three to four weeks.
Fire department officials were summoned to the Ferry Boulevard restaurant last Tuesday after Avramopoulos' wife called the department on a complaint about smoke in the building.
Avramopoulos said a small brush fire outside caused smoke to enter the basement, which spurred his wife to call the fire department. When they arrived, firefighters noticed rusty beams in the basement so they called in a building inspector, Avramopoulos said.
Blue Sky's owner said the building inspector told him to hire a structural engineer, who determined the beams needed to be replaced.
Avramopolous, who bought the restaurant 35 years ago, said the fix will cost anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000. He said he also plans to make a few minor cosmetic changes to the restaurant, including possibly installing a new rug and updating light fixtures.
"I just wanted to get the message across to our customers," said Avramopoulos about patrons who may have thought the closure was related to something else. "We have a very good reputation in the neighborhood."
First of all please accept my sincerest apologies to you and all our faithful customers for not opening in the time frame that I said we would. Rest assure , the diner will open. Currently we are waiting to close on a deal with the State of Conn. for financial assistance in completing all we set out to do. This is why we are delayed in opening. I will post further updates as we go along. Thank you for your interest in the diner. As always I value and encourage comments like yours. Hope to see you soon. Nikos Avramopoulos
Back in July 2012 when we were forced to close due to structural issues, I told people we would be open by September. It is now October and we are still not open. We are now hoping to open by the end of December 2012. Thank you for your concern . We miss all our customers as much as they miss us, I will post updates as we progress. Nikos Avramopoulos
I apologize for not opening in the time frame that I said I would. It is now 12 weeks since we closed. We are working very hard to open back up. At this point we hope to open in late December 2012. Thank you for your comment and concern. Nikos Avramopoulos