So long, Hartley's

A sad day -- we're losing Hartley's. Well, not exactly, but close enough:

In a Newschannel 15 exclusive, Chappell's officials say a big change is coming to the Broadway restaurant and fish market.  The 23-year-old business is expected to merge with Hartley's restaurant on Fairfield.

Tuesday afternoon, Gary Chappell signed a deal to purchase the Hartley's restaurant.  Hartley's has been in business for 25-years at the Fairfield location.

Chappell says he will add the best of Hartley's with the best of Chappell's and re-open his Broadway location using both names.  The Broadway location will be extensively renovated inside and out.

What's it gonna be called? Chartley's? Harppell's? If the place does keep the best of Chappell's and Hartley's, it is sure to be one of Fort Wayne's best restaurants, and that's good news for Broadway and surrounding neighborhoods.

But what will be lost to me and all the others who treasure Hartley's is a specific ambience -- a particular feeling of a particular place that resides comfortably in memory. I don't know why, but Hartley's became the special place my family went to for one dinner a month. I never laughed so hard while eating such good food as on those nights with my mother, brother, sister and spouses and friends.