If you've been hankering for a 42-foot long dog in a 35-foot bun, this is your chance.
An appreciation of the diner on the Amusing the Zillion blog delves into the Coney's colorful history and importance to fans of roadside architecture. Lakewood creator Marcus Shannon saw the Coney as the first step in a chain of hot-dog emporiums; instead, it became one of the best-known novelty diners in the state, hailed by historian Tom Noel as "a most delicious morsel of pop roadside art."
The current owner, Ron Aigner, moved the anatomically correct eatery to Bailey a few years ago and restored it. The place had done a "huge business," he says, but he closed it after a series of conflicts with local authorities.
Roadside diners of all kinds are hard to come by these days, of course, but times have been particularly tough for hot-dog-shaped hot dog stands. Despite being featured in numerous movies and music videos, Los Angeles's famous Tail of the Pup has been sitting idle in a suburban warehouse for five years.
But Aigner is hopeful that a savvy entrepreneur will figure out a way to keep the Coney slinging dogs in Colorado. Anyone with the dough to buy and move the 18-ton structure to a prime location -- in other words, anyone able to cut the mustard -- should do just fine.
