Want to own the old Shawmut Diner? You could scoop it up for as little as $10 at auction

Standard-Times
·2 min read

DARTMOUTH — You can buy an iconic piece of New Bedford history for as little as $10.

The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office and the state are putting the former Shawmut Diner up for auction, according to a BCSO news release. The online auction, hosted by Auctions International, started Thursday afternoon and runs until July 27.

The old Shawmut Diner served patrons for decades at the corner of Hathaway Road and Shawmut Avenue in New Bedford. Longtime owners Phil and Celeste Paleologos, seeking to have the diner be used to help inmates learn the restaurant business, donated the diner to the BCSO following its closure in the spring of 2014, including funding the move from its former location to the BCSO off Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth.

Shawmut Diner, seen here in a file photo, was a place for breakfast, the morning paper and coffee, and gossip.
Shawmut Diner, seen here in a file photo, was a place for breakfast, the morning paper and coffee, and gossip.

According to the release, BCSO long planned to use asset forfeiture money to breathe new life into the old diner as a teaching facility to train inmates on food services and business operations. However, the millions of dollars the BCSO was expecting from the U.S. Department of Justice never came, and with the BCSO unable to secure further funding to rehab the former diner, Sheriff Paul Heroux felt the best way to move forward would be to put it up for auction, the release said.

Get some background: After 32 years, Shawmut Diner is on the market

“Hopefully, it will find a good home. It’s a unique piece of local history,” Sheriff Heroux said.

How Shawmut plans fell apart

Former BCSO Sgt. Julio DeFigueiredo, as part of the U.S. Homeland Security Task Force, was one of the investigators on the federal case in which James Merrill of Ashland, a former executive at TelexFree, pleaded guilty to several counts of wire fraud in 2016 and agreed to forfeit more than $140 million. With thousands of victims of what then-U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz called a pyramid scheme, the federal government said in late 2017 that all forfeited funds would go to victim restitution, the release said, thus leaving the BCSO to find another funding source for the diner.

The BCSO recently sought but was unsuccessful in finding a local nonprofit or state/public organization to donate the diner to, according to the release.

In this file photo, Bristol County House of Correction Public Information Officer Jonathan Darling opens the doors of the old Shawmut Diner, which had been donated to Sheriff Thomas Hodgson for an inmate culinary arts program. Because of lack of funding the diner has been left un-repaired in the parking lot.
In this file photo, Bristol County House of Correction Public Information Officer Jonathan Darling opens the doors of the old Shawmut Diner, which had been donated to Sheriff Thomas Hodgson for an inmate culinary arts program. Because of lack of funding the diner has been left un-repaired in the parking lot.

If you're interested

All funds generated from the auction will go to the state. Bidders should be aware that the diner does not contain any kitchen or cooking equipment and it will also need bathrooms and extensive work to be able to serve the public. The buyer is also responsible for moving the diner off BCSO property. Opening bid is $10.

A public viewing will be held at the BCSO (400 Faunce Corner Road in Dartmouth) on Tuesday, July 25 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for anyone interested in checking out the diner before bidding. See the online auction listing for more details and pictures.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford's old Shawmut Diner going up for auction in Dartmouth