Alonzo Mourning opts against buying Suffolk eatery

NBA great Alonzo Mourning has rejected a deal to buy a local diner for his mother, the building’s owner said today.

The property has rebounded, though. A new church, Heaven on Earth Ministries, has leased the site for Sunday services.

City Councilman Charles Parr, the building’s owner, said Mourning, a Chesapeake native, decided against purchasing the former Suffolk Diner after the potential deal was publicized in March.

“He was trying to do it on the Q-T,” Parr said.

Mourning’s mother, Julia Hadnot, who lives in Portsmouth, said the media attention didn’t deter them. She said they were only looking at the building and decided against it. She wants to open a place that caters on-site for banquets and business meetings

“We are still looking at other sites,” Hadnot said.

The Suffolk Diner building, near the northeastern entrance to Suffolk’s downtown, has been open for decades. It has also operated as the Cotton Blossom, Ed’s Place, the Dining Room and Traveller’s Rest. Parr has owned it for the past couple of years.

kaynak : NBA