By Jeff Gearino | Casper Star Tribune | March 3, 2008

On the back of the Moondance sign near the freshly poured foundation where the historic old diner will eventually sit, just-plain Valerie from Manhattan promises in pretty cursive writing that she'll be back for coffee.

Pat and Ken R. from New York City likewise admonish the new owners to "take care of our beloved Moondance Diner."

Most everybody, it seems -- from East Coast tourists to those living in and around tiny LaBarge in southwest Wyoming -- is eagerly awaiting the opening of the famed Moondance Diner, said new owner Cheryl Pierce.

Having survived nearly a century of service, a close date with the wrecking ball, a 2,400-mile cross-country move from New York City to Wyoming, and heavy damage from a January snowstorm that nearly derailed the whole endeavor, renovation of the famed eatery is continuing and the restaurant will open as planned, she said.

"A lot of people have been wondering, but there's been no disappearing act ... The Moondance will open," said Pierce, who's known simply as "the diner lady" after numerous media interviews over the past few months.

"The interest from (across the country) is still very much there," she said last week. "We're hoping we can very much be a destination diner for the town and bring something new and exciting to LaBarge. We want it to be fun."

Previously located on Sixth Avenue in New York City's fashionable SoHo district, the Moondance Diner stood for nearly 80 years by the Holland Tunnel entrance in Lower Manhattan. One of the country's few remaining free-standing diners, the eatery gained national prominence in the feature film "Spider-Man" and numerous TV episodes over the years.

Cheryl and husband Vince saved the historic diner from a planned date with the wrecking ball when they purchased the Moondance last summer and relocated the diner to restaurant-less LaBarge.

The little piece of history that came to Wyoming on the back of a semitrailer last August was in pretty poor shape when it arrived. It got even worse after a heavy snowstorm in early January collapsed the diner's roof and parts of walls.

But Pierce said the renovations are continuing and work is progressing nicely.

The diner's original floor -- which was revealed after five layers of tiles and other flooring were peeled back during renovation work in December -- has been installed in the L-shaped foundation that was poured last month.

Pierce said with the help of New York architect Frederic Schwartz, the couple was able to locate a copy of the original Moondance Diner blueprints, which were an integral part of designer Alan Bushbaum's remake of the diner's interior in 1983.

She said the LaBarge Moondance will incorporate Bushbaum's sleek, Art Deco, stainless-steel look.

A new barrel roof is being built by an Evanston firm and will be trucked in after the walls are reassembled and installed next month.

Pierce said the most famous Moondance signature -- the bright yellow, crescent-shaped, incandescent, revolving sign -- needed lots of work, but has been repaired lovingly by husband Vince and is ready for installation.

She said the sign will require extra support to withstand Wyoming's fierce winds.

"It's amazing how big that sign is. It's almost as tall as the diner itself," she said.

The diner will have two entrances and will sport eight windows on the front and two near the side entrance. A NYC subway facade will be constructed over the front entrance "to try and keep it in line with that New York feel," she said.

Pierce said the old floor will be covered in the originally colored black, white and blue tile pattern. Plans also call for a moon-shaped patio addition to be built on the inside of the L for outside dining in warm weather.

"We want everything to be stainless steel and glass ... just the way it was," she said.

Pierce noted the double lot the couple bought this fall in downtown LaBarge for the diner was once owned by her great-great grandmother, Mary Shinsel, and her husband, Wil.

The Shinsels arrived in Lincoln County in 1905 and that first year homesteaded in dugout huts along the Green River just east of present-day LaBarge. They purchased the property in 1912.

"It's like we've come full circle," Pierce said.

Originally published online here: http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2008/03/03/news/wyoming/4c16f6f64520790a8725740000267956.txt