A Winnipeg restaurateur wants to breathe new life into the city's unique revolving restaurant, which has been closed for the last few years.

Noel Bernier of Hermanos Steakhouse and Corrientes Pizzeria says he is close to completing negotiations towards reopening the revolving restaurant at Fort Garry Place.

The new restaurant, which will be called Prairie 360, will feature a menu with local ingredients and an updated decor. Bernier said he hopes to open it this fall.

"The star in this restaurant — it's not the chairs or the tablecloths or the carpets. The star in this restaurant is the magnificent view of our city," he told CBC News on Thursday.

The downtown Winnipeg landmark, which opened in the 1980s, has been vacant for nearly four years.

Known previously as the Royal Crown, the revolving restaurant shut down in late 2008 after the owners of the building and the eatery's operators at the time could not agree on renewing their partnership.

Prairie 360 will feature locally grown food and "a chef-inspired vision of the food that defines Manitoba," said Bernier, who is also about to open Brazilian BBQ Carnaval in the city.

Jino Distasio, an urban studies professor at the University of Winnipeg, says the revolving restaurant's revival is another sign the city's downtown is sizzling.

"I think downtown Winnipeg has seen way too many vacancies in the last few years — too many boarded-up buildings, too many forgotten restaurants and spaces," he said.

"So anytime we see these places coming back on board, it's a good day."