MERIDEN, Conn. -- When a car slammed into Cassidy’s Diner on West Main Street in Meriden, the 50-year-old-plus restaurant had to shut down, but things are about to change.

The stainless steel exterior of the diner is still covered with plywood, but work has begun inside on the extensive repairs needed to reopen the downtown eatery.

In May, a vehicle was driven right through the front of the diner, which is made from an old trolley car.

Owner Jay Eagle Delaney said it was the historic feel of the diner that attracted so many people to drop in and have a meal.

“I've had people from Rhode Island, people from Maine, people from down south, even have one couple from Germany,” he said. “Everywhere I go, they're asking, people I know in town, ‘Oh yeah, when are you going to open the diner? What's going on with the diner? And they all want it built the way it was."

One problem Delaney said he’s encountered is his insurance company only wants to pay for modern-looking repairs, but he wants to restore the diner to its original 1946 appearance, which will cost more.

“At one time, these were all over the country, and now they’re far and few between,” Delaney said. “That's what I'm putting it back to. That's what I bought and that's what I'm restoring it back to. That's my legal right. I'm not modernizing it for anybody.”