The Perkins restaurant that has been operating in Newton since the 1970s permanently closed this past weekend, and Newton Mayor Randy Ervin says the building along Highway 14 just north of Interstate 80 has already drawn some interest. Ervin believes recruiting restaurants to come to the community needs to be a high priority, especially since the closure of April’s Diner on the city’s square in late December.

“I’ve already had three calls from different people with ideas to put things back in there. So we are going to take a look at it and do what we can as an economic development team for the city. Now with April’s and Perkins gone, we have got to put a full-court press on some people to bring restaurants back into this town.”

The Newton Mayor says a lot of friends he knew in high school worked at Perkins, and he remembers young people spending a lot of time at the restaurant around the clock in the years immediately following its opening. He talks more about the restaurant’s closure and tonight’s Newton City Council agenda on today’s Let’s Talk Newton.