Rosebud Diner totally gutted

[ron_newman]

The interior of the Rosebud Diner has been totally demolished. It's unrecognizable now.

One of the diner's front windows has two city permits displayed -- one for the demolition, the other for a dumpster. The permits were issued on January 31, so this work happened fast once it started.

If anyone has any news or even relevant rumors about what the owner's plans are, please post them here.

Comments

[ravingwanderer.livejournal.com]

The Rosebud is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (Wikipedia link (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rosebud_%28diner%29)). This does not confer any sort of protection (against modification up to and including demolition); local or state legislation and designation is required for that.

[ron_newman]

Being on the National Register provides some limited protection, in that governmental funds can't be used to demolish the building or remove its historic characteristics.

The Rosebud is a Somerville "local historic district", which protects the exterior (including the painted Rosebud logo on the front and the neon sign above). State law does not give any municipality other than Boston the power to protect interiors.

Also, the Rosebud's interior wasn't really historic -- the décor we have become fond of dates back only to the late 1990s, when it was last renovated.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Thanks Ron; didn't know the interior was that recent. Thought maybe the booths and stuff were original.

[ron_newman]

I'm not sure, but they may have been moved into the Rosebud from some other diner that was closing at the time.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the information; I wasn't aware just what was and wasn't protected.