PORTLAND (AP) – The owner of a Mexican deli could soon be the new owner of the Miss Portland Diner after submitting a proposal to pay $35,000 for the landmark restaurant.

Scott Rehart, owner of El Mirador Mexican Delicatessen at the Portland Public Market, submitted one of 12 letters of interest for the diner to Portland officials.

Rehart proposed buying the diner from the city and moving it to city-owned land on Marginal Way, which he would lease with an option to buy. Rehart, 60, plans to preserve the diner’s original features and renovate a bus shelter now on the property to serve as the kitchen and look like a train station.

He wants to serve traditional diner cuisine from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Eventually, Rehart hopes to keep the diner open 24 hours a day.

The interest in the diner was welcome to city officials after nobody responded to an advertised request for proposals in May. The diner’s former owner gave the eatery to the city when he retired in March and sold the land to another Marginal Way property owner in June.

Lee Urban, Portland’s director of planning and development, said Rehart’s letter was more attractive than the others because he had a concrete financial proposal with specific development details. Officials also liked his enthusiasm and varied business and foodservice experience.

“He’s the one I sit down with first,” Urban said. “If it doesn’t work out, those other people are still out there.”

Before launching El Mirador in 1999, he worked as a stockbroker, Rehart owned three bike shops, renovated lofts in New York City and had a cabinetmaker’s shop in Biddeford.

“It’s a new challenge,” Rehart said. “Coming up with an idea and making it work is exciting.”

AP-ES-07-16-04 0217EDT