Historic Plainfield diner gets new home

One of the few classic road-side diners still standing in Indiana appears to have found a new home in Plainfield's downtown historic district.

The fate of the gleaming, metallic U.S. 40 Diner featuring a rooftop sign of a cup of coffee has been uncertain ever since the restaurant closed in 2009.

Indiana Landmarks, a group that fights to preserve historic places, went so far as to include the 1954 landmark, also known as The Oasis, on its "10 Most Endangered" list of Hoosier historical sites in danger of being razed.

But soon the diner's new owners, Plainfield developers Doug Huff and Don Rector, will be loading the building onto a truck and moving it from its current location just east of Ronald Reagan Parkway to a lot sandwiched between Dairy Queen and the walking path that crosses the White Lick Creek on Main Street.

"It's a really good location," said Tony Perona, a Plainfield town spokesman. "It's right next to the Al and Jan Barker Sports Complex as well, so it's a good fit for the downtown area."

Originally shipped to Indiana on a train from New Jersey, the Oasis was one of the thousands of road-side diners that were ubiquitous along America's two-lane highways in the 1940s and 1950s.

But most disappeared as freeways and fast-food-chain-packed interchanges took the place of meandering rural highways that often went through the center of small towns.

The Oasis lasted longer than many diners, and it became a well-loved Central Indiana landmark.

While it was open, the picturesque, folksy building was used as the backdrop for filming several movies and television commercials, including a Gov. Mitch Daniels reelection campaign ad.

But in 2009, the Hendricks County Health Department, noting a long history of structural defects, demanded the problems be fixed or the building shut down.

A previous owner decided to instead close the building and sell the property, said Mark Dollase, vice president of preservation services at Indiana Landmarks, which took an keen interest in saving the diner when it closed.

"It's a rare surviving example of a 1950s diner in the state," Dollase said. "There are only a handful of them left and a number of them are abandoned."

Dollase said the structure and property were eventually sold to local developer Wally Beg, who donated the restaurant to Dollase's organization, which in turn sold it to Huff and Rector.

Indiana Landmarks also secured a $15,000 grant from the Efroymson Family Fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation to pay the cost of moving the building to its new home.

Dollase says "protective covenants" in the purchase agreement will ensure the Oasis Diner's preservation, no matter who owns it in the future.

If financing and permits are secured as expected in the coming week, Huff said, the diner could be again serving its signature tenderloin sandwiches, burgers and shakes as early as this fall.

Huff said the diner will be completely restored, with some new touches both to the menu and to the decor, including expanding to 87 seats in the indoor seating area and 40 seats outside.

"We'll try to tie the old generation with the new generation."

Call Star reporter Ryan Sabalow at (317) 444-6179. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSabalow.