A small, historic diner in downtown Mason City that dates back to the 1940s is being rescued in hopes it can reopen under new ownership.

The Suzie Q Cafe has been closed since April of 2023 when a fire next-door destroyed the Kirk Apartments building. The restaurant got its water service from the Kirk and city administrator Aaron Burnett says in order to operate the diner, that service will need to be restored.

“People didn’t realize how intimately intertwined that building was with the Suzie Q,” Burnett says. “Services were brought off of that building, and so when that building burned down, it really made it impossible for that building to operate as it had previously, and it did not reopen.”

Officials with the Mason City Historic Preservation Commission have met with the diner’s owner, who would like the commission to take ownership. If the diner needs to be moved to a new location, Burnett says there are options that need to be carefully weighed.

“It’s trying to figure out what is really the best from an historic preservation standpoint and also what’s functional because it does need to be visible enough that it can actually engage in business,” Burnett says. “It’s not just meant to be sculpture, so it’s trying to balance those interests and I think there’s some good locations that will do fine.”

The diner sits on the Kirk Apartments property and the city has to lease the land under the diner from the current owner. This week, the city approved a lease agreement on the land and an asset purchase agreement for the cafe, which was established in 1948.

The agreements include the rights to all recipes, including the diner’s famous Spic ‘n’ Span tenderloin.

(By Bob Fisher, KLKK, Clear Lake)

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