The franchise owner of the Denny's restaurant, which for 23 years occupied the building now up for landmark status with the city of Seattle, said it wants to re-open at the popular Ballard diner site, or maybe another site here.

DWO, a franchise company based in La Palma, Calif., purchased the Denny's at the northwest corner of15th and Market Street in June, but had to shutter in September to make way for a planned mixed-use development.

Gene Erdman, director of human resources for DWO, contacted the News-Tribune early Monday, Jan. 14.

"...DWO would welcome the opportunity to re-open our Denny's restaurant in that exact location if at all possible," Erdman said. "We would re-open tomorrow if possible. We would be very happy to be able to serve our loyal customer base in the Ballard area."

A city board will decide Feb. 20 whether the building, a former Manning's Cafeteria designed by a well-known Bay Area architect, is important enough to warrant a landmark designation. Architecture experts believe it's a prime example of a type of roadside architecture called "Googie," which originated in the Las Angeles area.

The developers, Rhapsody partners, are hoping to buy the site from Benaroya Properties to build an eight-story condo. If approved by the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board, it might be impossible to develop anything there because of restrictions to modifying historic structures.

Louie Richmond, a spokesman for Rhapsody, said Benaroya still plans to sell the site to Rhapsody and move forward with the condominium project. It was purchased for $12.5 million from the Seattle Monorail Project.

"The economics do not make sense as a restaurant," Richmond said. "That simple."

But Erdman said he wants to begin operating in Ballard "immediately," possibly even in a different location.

"We are not in the business of closing restaurants," Erdman told the News-Tribune in October, days after the diner closed up. "We kind of fell victim to that development."

"I can tell you with 100 percent assuredness we are ready to open back up tomorrow. We'd mobilize our troops ... we want to be (in Ballard)."

Erdman wouldn't comment on whether DWO would be willing to invest in restoration of the Mayhew building if it were found to be historic.

Manning's Cafeteria opened in 1964 and later became a Denny's in 1984. The Manning's chain originated in the Pike Place Market in 1908 and spread across the Pacific Northwest before ceasing operations in the 1970's.

The building was set to be demolished for a new Denny's in 1983 after Manning's closed. By that time, the diner had become a favored gathering spot by many Ballard residents who staged a protest. Denny's agreed to remodel the building instead, an unusual move for a corporate chain.

The group Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement in Western Washington is holding a community meeting Wednesday, Jan. 23 at the Ballard Library at 6:30 to discuss saving the old diner.

The organization, a local chapter of a national group devoted to preserving Northwest modernism, has listed the building on its Web site as "endangered Googie."

Get more information at http://www.docomomo-wewa.org/.

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at 783-1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com.