The Wellshire Inn, one of the city's luxe dining destinations since 1976, is no longer serving lunch and dinner as the iconic Tudor-style restaurant prepares for a major overhaul.

The Wellshire continues to remain open for banquets, weddings, and private parties as well as offer meals at the Golfer's Pub. But lunch and dinner service at the Wellshire Inn's main restaurant stopped this month, after partial owners and manager Levy Restaurants withdrew.

Around the same time, the remaining owners won a new food and beverage concession contract from the city, which owns the building as well as the south Denver golf course that the restaurant overlooks.

The new agreement requires several million dollars of upgrades to the building and its mechanical systems as well as the development of a new food service concept, said Howard Torgrove, a member of the ownership group, Wellshire LLC.

The American continental-style restaurant was best known for its stained glass, giant fireplace and menu items like prime rib and fried calamari.

"There are very few restaurants that have had a 32-year run without changing their concept," Torgrove said.

He said the owners are still considering various directions, but the new eatery will be "a real improvement. It will be great for the neighborhood, great for the city and, hopefully, profitable for the owners."

Among the planned improvements are repairs to the 25-year- old roof, as well as work on the air conditioning system, which broke down last summer.

Torgrove couldn't estimate when the new restaurant will open, noting that the final concession agreement still must be negotiated and approved by the city. Once that's done, the Wellshire's owners must hire architects and contractors as well as raise money to fund the improvements.

The Wellshire's longtime general manager, Leo Goto, continues to own a partial interest in the restaurant but is no longer the front-door face because of the dining room's closure, Torgrove said. Goto has been a high-profile figure on the Denver dining scene for the past 35 years and a major contributor to the community and charities.

"Leo is an institution in the city, one of the quintessential hosts," said restaurant consultant John Imbergamo. "That's something that we have really lost in Denver."