Coppell Chronicle Vol. 4, No. 29
New Owners Purchasing Local Diner • Coppell’s Only Golf Course Could be Yours • Lyft Subsidies to Continue for Sixth Year • Board of Adjustment Denies Carport Variance
I attended five elementary schools in three states. Two of my transfers were due to my dad getting new jobs. Another was a result of my parents’ divorce. And one of them happened because a school district permanently closed a campus.
Despite all that childhood upheaval, I’m a healthy and happy adult with family and friends who love me. Additionally, hundreds of other people pay me to send them an informative email every Sunday. I am, as the kids say, hashtag blessed.
I say all that because the Coppell ISD Board of Trustees is about to receive a recommended course of action from a facilities evaluation team. That recommendation, which the trustees will hear about on Monday evening, may involve closing one or more elementary schools.
If the trustees decide to close a school, any affected student would still receive a quality education from another elementary campus in Coppell ISD. And nobody would make that transition alone; there would be plenty of other students in the same situation.
I just wanted to put all of that in writing before Monday’s workshop, which is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
New Owners Taking Over Local Diner
One of Coppell’s oldest restaurants is about to change hands for the first time. The Brightwell family is selling Local Diner.
Frank Brightwell opened Coppell’s Local Diner in 1990, one year after he began scrambling eggs and flipping pancakes at his original Local Diner in Carrollton. He expanded the concept to Flower Mound and Irving over the years, but the Coppell location is the only one still in the family.
It will officially no longer be in the family as of Sept. 16. Brightwell and his wife, Margaret Brightwell, are selling the diner to another couple, Jonathan and Christina Crump.
Jonathan is about to retire from the Dallas Police Department after 20 years of service, and Christina is a pediatric nurse practitioner. This will be their first foray into the restaurant business, but they will have assistance from Eric Pickett, a former Local Diner employee whom they befriended when he worked at Coppell’s Sunny Street Cafe. Jonathan said Pickett made quite an impression.
“He caught us off guard,” Jonathan said. “We went back the very next day – not for the food, but just to see that fella.”
Jonathan said Pickett was the one who connected the Brightwells and Crumps about a potential purchase of the property. Besides Pickett, the new owners will be able to rely on the experience of Local Diner’s veteran servers, some of whom have worked there for more than 15 years.
“I may introduce some different things, but I’m not going to change the way things are done,” Jonathan said.
The Crumps are getting into the breakfast business when Coppell has more options than ever. The former homes of Sunny Street Cafe and the Deliman’s Grill are occupied by Hemingway Brunch and Double Yolk Cafe, respectively. First Watch, Paris Baguette, and Siena Cafe all serve breakfast along South Belt Line Road. And the Coppell Deli and George Coffee + Provisions are both going strong in Old Town, right around the corner from Local Diner.
Frank hasn’t been as involved with Local Diner over the past year, because he’s been dealing with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis since October. Janet Bradley, the Brightwells’ daughter, has been handling his duties while he undergoes treatment.
“My wife did all the money and knew where all the bones were buried, and I did the operations,” he said. “It was just too much for the age and the body.”
Frank is in his mid-70s, so he’s owned Local Diner for nearly half of his life. It used to be on Denton Tap Road, in the space now occupied by Cava, but he built his own building on Bethel Road in 2013 after growing weary of being a tenant.
“It’s been a nice run,” he said. “I’m going to miss a lot of the customers.”
Coppell’s Only Golf Course Could be Yours
If you’re in the market for a golf course, then you’re in luck — Coppell’s Riverchase Golf Club is available for sale.