Sparta’s Shack Plans To Create New Memories At Familiar Location

SPARTA, NJ — Once a familiar and bustling stop where one could cool down years ago with scoops of creamy goodness on a warm summer day, Sparta’s Shack plans to bring ice cream back in a new way to the cabin-style building where Zinga’s Corn Patch had once been.

Located on the Lafayette and Sparta border at 640 Lafayette Road in what was most recently a pool business, Sparta's Shack owner Alexandra Patino said she and her husband, who live in Sussex County, had the good fortune to connect with Zinga’s former owners through their neighbors.

“I just fell in love with them,” Patino said after meeting the retirees.

Patino said she knows how much Zinga’s has meant to Sparta and Sussex County; and would like to make Sparta’s Shack reminiscent of it, with homemade ice cream and snacks-to-go, like hot dogs and hot pretzels.

“We’d like to create new memories for people who used to go to Zinga’s,” she said.

Patino said they came up with the name “Sparta’s Shack,” because of the building’s presence - which some have nicknamed “the shack” - as one crosses into Sparta from Lafayette.

"It's the first thing you see when driving into Sparta," she said.

Sparta’s Shack’s application through Patino’s business Sparta’s Shack LLC, was recently granted by Sparta Township’s Site Plan Waiver Committee of the Planning Board, Sparta Township Mayor Christine Quinn said Thursday.

Patino said she’s aiming to open over the summer, hopefully by August.

In the meantime, Patino has started to develop an active social media following on Facebook and YouTube, where she posts videos and images with updates, to keep Sparta's Shack growing fan base posted about the ice cream shop's upcoming opening.

“It’s very exciting to see this particular location revitalized and re-opened as Sparta’s Shack,” Quinn said. “As many may remember, this land has a history rich with smiles and sweet memories, across all age groups. It’s my sincere hope that upon its’ opening, Sparta’s Shack will generate the same – for many years to come.”

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