Skee's Diner Restoration Project
In April 2013, Preservation Torrington moved Skee’s Diner from its previous longtime location, at the corner of Main and East Elm streets, with the goal of restoring it and installing it at a future site in Torrington, where it would be reopened for business as a restaurant in a truly unique historic setting. In the last 10 years Preservation Torrington has made progress both on the diner’s restoration and finding a home for the historic diner. In May of 2023 Preservation Torrington entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the city of Torrington to focus our efforts on partnering with the city to have Skee’s as part of the Railroad Square project.
History and Significance of Skee’s Diner
Skee’s Diner is a treasured historic resource that has been a Torrington landmark as well as a popular dining spot and community gathering place. Skee’s was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. From October 1945 to April 2013 the diner was located on the corner of Main and North Elm Streets in Torrington, Connecticut. Skee’s was acquired by the Torrington Historic Preservation Trust in 2013 to prevent it from being sold and moved to another state. As a condition of the acquisition, the diner had to be moved from its long-standing location. Since the exterior of the diner was deteriorating, the Preservation Trust decided to move the diner to a warehouse on Travis Street in Torrington so that it would be protected while undergoing restoration. The diner is still located in the Travis Street warehouse.
The National Register nomination form for Skee’s Diner, prepared by Susan Chandler, states, “Skee’s Diner is an important example of the barrel-roof diner in Connecticut. The structure is significant for its association with Jerry O’Mahony, Inc. of Bayonne and Elizabeth, New Jersey, which produced diners from 1913 to 1955. Skee’s is the earliest known surviving O’Mahony diner in the state and displays an impressive level of integrity from its original date of manufacture. Alterations to the structure which have occurred reflect noteworthy trends in the design and function of diners over time.” Some diner experts have suggested that Skee’s Diner may be the most original O’Mahony diner of this style in the nation.
A restored and functioning Skee’s Diner would add a significant attraction to downtown Torrington.
Recent discoveries by The Torrington Historic Preservation Trust have shed additional light on the date of manufacture. While Preservation Trust members were cleaning and painting the undercarriage of the diner, production numbers were discovered on the wooden beams. Cross referencing these numbers with available Jerry O’Mahony production data indicates a date of manufacture closer to 1930.
Skee’s Diner was built by the Jerry O’Mahony Co. in Bayonne, New Jersey, one of the foremost 20th century diner manufacturers. After its construction, it was shipped to an unknown location in Connecticut. In 1945 the diner was purchased by Rudy Cielke, Tom Ryan and John Moran, who moved the diner to Torrington and located it on the corner of Main and North Elm Streets, where it was fitted out and opened as a diner. Early in 1946 the diner was purchased by WWII veterans and brothers Edmund and Tony Cisowski. They renamed the diner from Rudy’s to Skee’s, which was a reference to Tony Cisowski’s military nickname. From 1945 until 2013, the diner was located on property that was leased from St. Maron’s Church, a situation that more recently would be the beginning of both problems and opportunities for the historic diner. The Cisowski Brothers operated the local dining spot for 29 years until they sold the diner in 1975. According to Tony Cisowski, the seats of the diner never got cold during their time operating the diner. The last restaurateur/owner closed the diner in 2001 and ownership of the building reverted to St. Maron’s Church.
Subsequently the Church decided to remove the diner from its property and sought interested parties to purchase the diner and move it a new location. After sitting empty for several years, the diner was acquired in 2009 by the Northwest Connecticut Chamber Education Foundation operated by the NW CT Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber planned to move the diner to a new location in Torrington and re-purpose it as a Northwest Connecticut Visitor Center. The Chamber utilized grant funding to develop architectural drawings for the visitor center and in that process a preservation restriction that expires in 2023 was placed on the diner. After the Chamber abandoned plans to create the visitor center, the diner was donated to the Torrington Historic Preservation Trust so that it would remain in Torrington. When the Preservation Trust acquired the diner early in 2013, St Maron’s Church stipulated that the diner had to be moved from Church property by mid-April of that year.
Noteworthy historic elements of the diner include: counter stools, Tennessee marble counter, mahogany interior trim, sliding mahogany doors and mahogany windows with glue chip decorated glass, mahogany ice box, ceramic floor tiles, ceramic wall tiles, kitchen hood, countertop glass pie display cabinets, and countertop water dispensers.
The National Register nomination form for Skee’s Diner, prepared by Susan Chandler, states, “Skee’s Diner is an important example of the barrel-roof diner in Connecticut. The structure is significant for its association with Jerry O’Mahony, Inc. of Bayonne and Elizabeth, New Jersey, which produced diners from 1913 to 1955. Skee’s is the earliest known surviving O’Mahony diner in the state and displays an impressive level of integrity from its original date of manufacture. Alterations to the structure which have occurred reflect noteworthy trends in the design and function of diners over time.” Some diner experts have suggested that Skee’s Diner may be the most original O’Mahony diner of this style in the nation.
A restored and functioning Skee’s Diner would add a significant attraction to downtown Torrington.
Recent discoveries by The Torrington Historic Preservation Trust have shed additional light on the date of manufacture. While Preservation Trust members were cleaning and painting the undercarriage of the diner, production numbers were discovered on the wooden beams. Cross referencing these numbers with available Jerry O’Mahony production data indicates a date of manufacture closer to 1930.
Skee’s Diner was built by the Jerry O’Mahony Co. in Bayonne, New Jersey, one of the foremost 20th century diner manufacturers. After its construction, it was shipped to an unknown location in Connecticut. In 1945 the diner was purchased by Rudy Cielke, Tom Ryan and John Moran, who moved the diner to Torrington and located it on the corner of Main and North Elm Streets, where it was fitted out and opened as a diner. Early in 1946 the diner was purchased by WWII veterans and brothers Edmund and Tony Cisowski. They renamed the diner from Rudy’s to Skee’s, which was a reference to Tony Cisowski’s military nickname. From 1945 until 2013, the diner was located on property that was leased from St. Maron’s Church, a situation that more recently would be the beginning of both problems and opportunities for the historic diner. The Cisowski Brothers operated the local dining spot for 29 years until they sold the diner in 1975. According to Tony Cisowski, the seats of the diner never got cold during their time operating the diner. The last restaurateur/owner closed the diner in 2001 and ownership of the building reverted to St. Maron’s Church.
Subsequently the Church decided to remove the diner from its property and sought interested parties to purchase the diner and move it a new location. After sitting empty for several years, the diner was acquired in 2009 by the Northwest Connecticut Chamber Education Foundation operated by the NW CT Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber planned to move the diner to a new location in Torrington and re-purpose it as a Northwest Connecticut Visitor Center. The Chamber utilized grant funding to develop architectural drawings for the visitor center and in that process a preservation restriction that expires in 2023 was placed on the diner. After the Chamber abandoned plans to create the visitor center, the diner was donated to the Torrington Historic Preservation Trust so that it would remain in Torrington. When the Preservation Trust acquired the diner early in 2013, St Maron’s Church stipulated that the diner had to be moved from Church property by mid-April of that year.
Noteworthy historic elements of the diner include: counter stools, Tennessee marble counter, mahogany interior trim, sliding mahogany doors and mahogany windows with glue chip decorated glass, mahogany ice box, ceramic floor tiles, ceramic wall tiles, kitchen hood, countertop glass pie display cabinets, and countertop water dispensers.
Progress on the Restoration of Skee's Diner
In 2023 restoration work on Skee's took significant strides. A new door was built, old insulation was removed, repairs were made to the roof and also on a corner beam.
