After three years, Sparta seeking community support

• A meeting will be held Wednesday to discuss the future of the Sparta and how the community can get involved.
• The restaurant needs to raise at least $10,000 and increase its number of customers.
• For more information about the meeting, contact Allen Schwartz at 937-515-6461 or allenschwartz@gmail.com.

NEWARK – For Tina Cole, the Sparta is the place where she was offered a job when no one else would give her a chance.

For the homeless man who walks through the door, it's a place to get a hot meal and a break from the cold weather.

For the Newark Think Tank on Poverty, it's a place to meet and discuss ways to improve the city with local leaders.

And for hundreds of customers, it's a place to grab breakfast, a sandwich or a cup of coffee.

Since it re-opened its doors in July 2012, the Sparta has been many things to different people. Its employees are asking all those people to come together to support the restaurant in its time of need, said Allen Schwartz, acting president of the Sparta's board.

The Sparta is in transition and the next 60 days are critical, Schwartz said. The restaurant needs to increase the number of customers who come through the door, while raising about $10,000 to purchase the building, make upgrades and liquidate debts.

A community meeting is planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday at The Sparta, located at 16 W. Main St.

"We will be taking a community pulse. We are asking the community, 'Do you want this place to exist?'" he said. "Hopefully on Wednesday the answer will be a resounding yes."

'About the community'

Schwartz's memories of coming to the Sparta date back to the 1970s.

"It had a very neighborhood feel and we have tried to maintain that sense of welcome," he said.

It's a restaurant that many long time Newark residents recognize. The Sparta was originally opened in 1900 as a restaurant and candy shop on North 2nd Street and moved to its current location in 1949.

Over the years, it opened and closed several times before Chris Ramsey took it over in 2012. But he had a bigger plan in mind than simply serving coffee and food.

He envisioned the Sparta as a place where people in need could come and be connected with resources, as well as a meal if they were hungry.

He opened the restaurant with a plan to offer jobs to people who wanted to be trained to work in the restaurant industry. His long term goals included creating a community supported agriculture program to grow locally-produced food, launch a green-jobs training program and convert the second floor of the Sparta into classroom space.

Those ideas sparked the creation of the non-profit organization Project Main Street, Schwartz said.

Ramsey said his goal was always to turn the restaurant over to Project Main Street and train a community member to oversee the Sparta's daily operations.

"It was always about the community," he said. "That was the plan from day one."

As Ramsey got more involved with other projects, such as the community art festival FAM Fest, he realized he was spreading himself too thin.

"(The Sparta) was the most challenging and the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. But I don't think I fully understood the constant pressure and grind of the restaurant business," Ramsey said. "I couldn’t do the Sparta and do anything else with any sort of excellence and it was time for me to move forward."

In July, Ramsey began working with Project Main Street to begin the transition, selling the business to the non-profit for $1.

Cole was promoted to manager of the restaurant and spent several months in training before becoming the general manager last month.

Ramsey is now dedicating his time to volunteering as a co-director of FAM Fest at The Works as well as other outreach projects.

But he's still a strong supporter of the Sparta and is proud of its mission, he said.

"Now the community can step up and be part of it," he said. "It need to be a community owned restaurant."

'A community sanctuary'

As general manager of the restaurant, Cole is determined to continue the foundation that Ramsey started.

It's a mission that completely changed her life.

Cole, of Newark, spent six years in prison for selling drugs. When she was released she had very little restaurant experience, but the Sparta took a chance on her.

She quickly fell in love with the customer service side of restaurant work. But she also embraced the atmosphere of the Sparta.

"We have great food and coffee but it's more like a hub," she said. "Sometimes I don't think of it as a restaurant, it's more like a community sanctuary."

On a daily basis, people from all walks of life get to know each other at the Sparta's tables, Schwartz said.

"It's a place where conversations can happen that might not happen otherwise," he said.

Project Main Street is dedicated to the revitalization of downtown Newark and believes the Sparta plays an important role in that, Schwartz said.

"We are living in a increasingly polarized society and to have a place where people can sit next to each other and eat is really important," he said.

'We need you now'

Cole said she has big plans for the restaurant.

She wants to add new items to the menu, upgrade the kitchen equipment and renovate the second floor to turn it into community meeting space.

But before any of these things can happen, the Sparta needs to be stabilized.

"If we don't get some traction in the next 60 days, the existence of the Sparta may not be assured," he said. "Our message to the community is, we need you now."

At Wednesday's meeting, Schwartz plans to ask community members two questions — how they plan to help the Sparta and what they want to see out of the restaurant in the next year.

Raising the $10,000 by April will help the business, but it's not the only solution, he said. The number of meals sold every hour needs to increase by two to keep the restaurant in the black.

With downtown construction continuing, the restaurant needs to rally its supporters now, Schwartz said. He's hoping that people will come together to spread the word and organize donations.

"Some can contribute a lot, some can give a little and some can volunteer," he said. "There's lots of ways to pitch in."

Since the Wednesday meeting was announced, Schwartz said he's seen lots of feedback on social media.

"I am feeling optimistic, we have a broad base of support," he said. "People don't see us as just another restaurant in Newark."

ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com

740-328-8544

Twitter: @amsjeffries

If You Go

What: Save the Sparta community meeting

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: The Sparta, 16 W. Main St., Newark 

Cost: Free and open to the public

More info: Contact Allen Schwartz at 937-515-6461 or allenschwartz@gmail.com.