GREEN RIVER - It was going to be a Christmas present, but unexpected delays will turn it into a New Year's gift instead.

Yes, the Moondance Diner is finally ready to open in the tiny southwest Wyoming town of LaBarge.

After surviving a century of service in the Big Apple, a close date with a wrecking ball, a 2,400-mile cross-country move from New York City to Wyoming, and a snowstorm that nearly destroyed the whole effort, the diner should open in early January, its new owners say.

The staff is pretty much hired, and the menu - which will include traditional diner fare including burgers, meatloaf, homemade fries and milkshakes/malts from an antique soda fountain - is set, said owner Cheryl Pierce.

"It's been an incredible journey so far, there's no doubt about that … and we're very excited about being close to opening," she said in a Monday telephone interview.

"We've had our bumps and glitches, and of course we're over budget and over time, but ultimately we'll be opening here shortly, and we're really looking forward to it," Pierce said.

"We wanted to open just before Christmas, but we couldn't make it timewise, but maybe it's just as well," she added. "We'll be open in '09, and it will be a great new start to the new year."

The full reconstruction and renovation is complete, save for a few cosmetic touch-ups. Pierce said health department and other inspectors are due for a final look-over the first week of January.

"We're so close … we hope to open around Jan. 9 after the inspections are completed," she said.

"I'm ready to stress about something other than construction … Maybe running the diner will be a new kind of stress, but I'm ready for it," Pierce said. "We're at the point where we can actually test the waters now."

80 years of history

Previously located on Sixth Avenue in New York City's fashionable SoHo District, the Moondance Diner stood for nearly 80 years near the Holland Tunnel entrance in Lower Manhattan.

One of the last free-standing diners in Manhattan, the Moondance served up cheeseburgers, fries, milkshakes and malts to working-class New Yorkers, artists and actors for decades.

The diner gained national prominence after being featured in the film "Spider-Man," and was included as a backdrop in numerous TV episodes over the years. The Moondance became a victim of the times, however, and was scheduled for demolition in 2007 to make room for condominiums.

The Pierces had been looking for a restaurant investment when they spotted the diner for sale on the Web site of the American Diner Museum in Providence, R.I. The couple decided to rescue the famed diner and bought the eatery for $7,500.

Vince Pierce, who drives service trucks for southwest Wyoming's oil and gas industry, and father-in-law Kent Profit drove back to New York to collect the diner in August 2007. After a three-day bureaucratic snarl over city permits and a torrential rainstorm that briefly delayed the project, the pair loaded the diner onto a trailer and trucked the Moondance 2,400 miles through nine states to its new home in LaBarge.

The purchase, preservation and relocation caught the interest of New York and national media and sparked excitement among Wyoming residents.

Renovation began on the diner in early 2008, but financing, the collapse of most of the diner's roof due to a heavy January snowstorm, and other setbacks pushed the planned opening back several times.

The progress of the Moondance's renovation, however, continued to spark much interest among residents, media and excited future patrons from as far away as London and Germany.

In May, the Pierces received a congratulatory letter from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who offered his best wishes for success. The mayor described the diner as "sort of a bridge" between New York and Wyoming and predicted the diner would be "as beloved out West" as it was on the west side of Manhattan.

The couple were able to locate the original Moondance blueprints of the late architect/designer Alan Buchsbaum, who redid the interior of the diner in 1983.

Overwhelming attention

The diner will boast the same historic, neon-lit, revolving crescent Moondance sign that lured patrons in Manhattan.

The stainless steel-sided diner includes a grill, counters, stools, tables and other furniture. It also features the sleek, streamlined design of the 1920s era in which it was built, including chrome detailing, a reconstructed barrel-roof ceiling and wrap-around windows.

Pierce said she is still a little overwhelmed by all the attention the diner has received.

Most recently, a team from Sunset Magazine spent a day in LaBarge photographing the diner. She said the magazine plans to feature the diner in its spotlight edition in the spring.

"It's just been fascinating, the amount of people paying attention to this," she said.

"You kind of get in your own little world when you're doing it, and you forget that there are so many other people out there just chomping at the bit to get this thing off the ground and open so they can try it out," Pierce said.

"Everybody has such high expectations, and my main concern now is just meeting those," she said. "But I hope if we just do the basics, we should be good."

Pierce said she is anxious to move out of 2008's construction phase and into the restaurant operations in 2009.

"It's been like raising a child … There's been lots of challenges, but overall and ultimately the end result is very exciting," she said. "It's just been so positive. We're very excited."

Southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino can be reached at 307-875-5359 or at gearino@tribcsp.com.

Moondance Diner, Part 1

Dan Cepeda, Star-Tribune. August 2007.

Moondance Diner Update

Dan Cepeda, Star-Tribune. March 2008.