Print edition: 
Faced with strenuous community opposition, the Lord's Diner on Saturday withdrew a proposal to open a satellite diner at 21st and Grove.
"Regrettably, over the past few months, we have reached an impasse in our efforts to move forward with a Lord's Diner in the northeast community," executive director Wendy Glick said in a prepared statement.
"Out of respect for those who have voiced concerns, we are withdrawing our proposal for a Lord's Diner at 21st and Grove."
Glick made the announcement at a news conference at the diner's Central and Broadway location. She said the diner has no immediate plans to look elsewhere for a possible annex.
"We are not pursuing other locations," she said.
An official with the Catholic Diocese of Wichita asked Mayor Carl Brewer on Saturday to withdraw a proposal from Tuesday's City Council agenda that would have allowed the diner to move into a vacant building that once housed the Boys & Girls Club.
The diner was considering a proposal to lease the building for $15,000 a year for three years, with an option to buy the building after that for $150,000, minus any rent already paid.
City Council member Lavonta Williams, who had opposed the 21st Street plan, said she had mixed reactions. She said was happy to see the 21st Street proposal taken off the table, but was concerned that the diner might abandon efforts to help northeast Wichita residents in need.
"We still have to find a way to take care of some people that we need to take care of," she said.
Much of the opposition to the plan came from those who thought it would detract from efforts to improve the 21st Street corridor.
Kevin Myles, president of the Wichita Branch NAACP, was among the critics.
"It is certainly a result that we're pleased with," he said of Saturday's announcement.
"This was never an issue about opposition to the Lord's Diner," he said. "This was an issue about opposition to the proposed site of the Lord's Diner."
Myles had offered to help the diner find a location in northeast Wichita that was not on 21st Street.
"I'm still willing to help them find an alternative location," he said. "My offer is still on the table."
Glick said Lord's Diner representatives last year conducted research and held exploratory meetings with dozens of northeast Wichita community leaders, churches and residents before concluding that a second diner was needed in the area.
"The message we were given at that time was the Lord's Diner was both needed and wanted," she said.
But she said that after the city announced it might allow the diner to move into the 21st and Grove location, the plan came under heavy criticism.
The Wichita Ministerial League, which represents about 25 predominantly African-American churches, held a meeting Thursday night that drew more than 50 people, most of them adamantly opposed to the 21st Street plan.
Glick said concerns raised at that meeting, and in conversations with community leaders, convinced those who operate the diner to abandon the plan.
Community Baptist Church Pastor Eric Snell said not everyone who lives in the area was opposed to seeing the diner move into the old Boys & Girls Club.
"Crime is everywhere; liquor stores are everywhere; we have known drug houses in our community," he said. "What would be the problem with having something there that would help people get a meal?.. I can't see the Lord's Diner hurting this community."
