Lindy’s Diner in downtown Albuquerque was ordered closed Monday by the City of Albuquerque’s code-enforcement division after an inspection found serious structural issues.
According to KRQE-TV, inspectors discovered that the northeast exterior wall of the century-old building is at risk of collapsing and structural supports are failing, causing the roof and the second floor to sag.
The Route 66 restaurant has 14 days to address the issues.
KOB-TV reports that it received a tip from a viewer about a month ago about a bow in the building’s outside wall.
The city told the station that the violations were severe enough that code enforcement issued an Emergency Vacate Order.
The Paper, citing the city inspector’s citation:
At the time of investigation hazard conditions were found due to years of neglect and lack of maintenance. The Northeast exterior wall is in hazard of collapse into the public right away. The lateral supports have been severely compromised, and now the roof and the second floor are sagging and is in hazard of collapse. Structural supports were installed in 1995 however, those applications are starting to fail as the exterior wall is leaning further out into the public right away.
The closure order came a few weeks after the owners, Steve and Dawn Vatoseow, announced they were putting the Bliss Building that houses the restaurant on the market for $1.27 million.
Steve Vatoseow told the Albuquerque Journal that he knew the building had problems, and he couldn’t afford to fix them. He’s now exploring financing options to address the near-term issues.
Lindy’s originally opened as the Coney Island Cafe in 1929. It became Lindy’s Diner in 1960.
(Image of Lindy’s Diner in Albuquerque by Tony Hisgett via Flickr)