UPDATE, June 27, 2014 at 1:39 p.m.: A relieved Rudi Scherff discusses sale of Springfield icon

SPRINGFIELD — Peter Picknelly, chairman and CEO of Peter Pan Bus Lines, will buy the Student Prince Cafe and The Fort Dining Room and has plans to reopen the Springfield stalwart in the fall with only a few "minor tweaks."

"The Fort is an iconic restaurant in Springfield. It's part of our city DNA. So many families including mine have had memories there," Picknelly said. "I didn't want to see that restaurant go dark."

He said he reached an agreement Thursday.

On Monday, Fort managing partner Rudi Scherff said the 79-year-old restaurant would close, at least temporarily, while a new buyer is found. But many had feared The Fort would go away forever if no buyer could be located. The restaurant has been standing room only for days as longtime customers came by to say goodbye.

Scherff will stay on, Picknelly said Friday.

"Rudi will still be the face of The Fort," Picknelly said. "He'll still be out front greeting people."

The beer steins also will stay.

"We are not going to mess with what has worked," he said. "I'm saying minor changes."

Picknelly said he will bring in an experienced restaurant manager for The Fort. He plans to tour the facility with some prospects next week during its down time.

"I will not be there every day. I will be a background person," he said. "I've also reached out to my brother, Paul, to get involved with his restaurant experience."

The Fort will be closed for a few months, Picknelly said. In that time, he'll make necessary repairs and improvements including new floors and new kitchen coolers.

Picknelly said he also plans to make minor changes to the menu. All the favorites will remain.

"But pig's knuckles are on the menu. I don't think they sell that many orders of pig's knuckles. So you get rid of the pig's knuckles," he said. "But you keep a lot of the menu and maybe you add more steaks and chops and some seafood. You modernize the menu."

He said a restaurant is viable downtown.

"I'm there every single day," he said.

Picknelly ended the interview with a plea for people to patronize locally owned restaurants as much as they can.

"We have amazing restaurants in this city, Adolfo's, Max's, Lattitude," he said. The summer is very tough for local restaurants. People need to patronize them, particularly in the summertime. And come fall, put The Fort back on that list because we'll be back and better than ever."