HAZLETON -- In Hazleton, a landlord is looking for a new tenant to fill space for a restaurant that closed. It's all about making the downtown strong and vibrant.
Mea's Restaurant in downtown Hazleton was opened six years ago. It was a high-end restaurant with clientele to match.
Now the customers are gone because the operators closed the restaurant's doors. The business is in the Merkle building, owned by George Hayden, an electrical contractor.
"Their lease ended they didn't stay in the restaurant business and they were a great restaurant, we`re sorry to see them leave," Hayden said.
Hayden is very proud of downtown and explained he's looking for someone else to fill the space left behind by Mea's.
"We could have this space rented today just to anyone, but we want to make sure the fit is for our downtown community and our downtown community is very important to us," said Hayden.
Some of Mea's business came from the 200 employees who work in the building including Robert Doughery.
"We're anxious to have another restaurant to fill that space because it was very convenient to us," Dougherty said.
Diana Smeglick agreed.
"We have a lot of clients that come in other entities, Harrisburg and sometimes out of state to look at our operations, and it's nice to have a nice place to take them," Smeglick explained.
Joe Calabrese said he also hopes another restaurant will locate in the building.
"If we just want to work in the office and go down and go downstairs and get lunch, it's very convenient for us," said Calabrese.
Building owner George Hayden said he hopes to have a tenant to replace Mea's before the summer.