The U.S. 40 Diner in Plainfield may be closed for good this time.

People made several attempts in the past year to reopen the eatery that has been a roadside landmark for more than a half-century.

However, repeated inspections by the Hendricks County Health Department show a long history of structural problems with the building that may be just too costly to repair.

County Plan Director Joe James said, “We’ve met with the owner, Ray Piercy, to discuss some options since the Health Department found these structural issues.”

Health Department reports available online from the county’s Web site show standing water that may leak into the basement under part of the diner, where operators have stored supplies. Water from below and leaks in the roof above damaged the building.

“Considering Mr. Piercy’s health and the costs to repair the building, we are looking at other options to save it for the historic value,” James said.

Piercy has the diner and 1.75 acres listed for sale with an eye to redevelopment, because the property at 3122 E. Main St. is close to the intersection of U.S. 40 and Ronald Reagan Parkway.

The front part of the diner is a 35-foot-long metallic trailer with red-and-blue accent stripes. Manufactured about 1954, it was shipped on a train from New Jersey to the roadside location near the Hendricks-Marion county line and was known as the Oasis for many years.

The trailer section contains the ’50s-era pink counter and seating area with the grill where, for many years, Piercy and his employees cooked up legendary breakfasts and giant tenderloin sandwiches.

The back part of the building, including the prep kitchen, is conventional construction with a basement.

Quaint and picturesque, the diner has been used as the backdrop for filming several movies and television commercials.

More recently, some of Gov. Mitch Daniels’ re-election campaign TV spots used it. Last year, during a period the diner was open, some scenes in an Indiana-produced independent science-fiction film used it.

After more than 20 years behind the grill, Piercy closed the diner in January 2008 because of his health. Later, he leased it to former employees, who had it open intermittently until an ultimatum from the Health Department forced it closed recently.

James said one option to at least save the iconic trailer, a symbol of the Old National Road as U.S. 40 was once known, is to move it to another site along the road.

Historians eager to see remnants of the old road preserved urge taking action to save the diner building.

Nancy Carlson, chairwoman of the telecommunications department at Ball State University, soon will release a made-for-TV movie “Movers and Stakers, Stories Along the Old National Road.”

She said, “The diner should be saved, not because it is necessarily beautiful architecture but because the diner is a vestige of days gone by.”

Joe Jarzen, executive director of the Indiana National Road Association, also met with Piercy and urged his help if the town, the association or another agency can find money to save the diner.

“It needs to be moved to another place along the Old National Road, and it needs to be moved to an area where it is not as threatened by development,” Jarzen said.