Two burned restaurants not yet replaced
Bryan Hutchens isn't having much luck finding a place to relocate his restaurant, Hutch's Diner, which he lost to a fire a little more than one year ago.
The Center Avenue restaurant was a popular breakfast venue in Butler until water, heavy smoke and soot from the fire two stories above rendered it unsafe and unusable.
Hutchens, who vowed after the fire to reopen the restaurant at another site after nearly two years in the Center Avenue site, has been steadily looking for a new location.
Buildings that are the right size have undesirable or insufficient parking and are too expensive, while buildings that have satisfactory parking are too small for his operation.
Another restaurant that closed due to a fire was the China Palace on West Jefferson Street.
The longtime Chinese restaurant suffered heavy smoke and water damage on Jan. 10, when a fire tore through the west side of the two-story building.
John Chen, who owned the restaurant with is wife, Tong, had to shoo two customers and several employees from the building when smoke became visible on the ceiling.
Chen said at the time of the fire that he hoped the building would be repaired so he could reopen China Palace.
A full story will appear in the Butler Eagle.
