Guests at Denver’s Old Spaghetti Factory location were told last night that the restaurant would be closing on Sept. 16.

Ryan Durrett, director of marketing for Old Spaghetti Factory, confirmed the news for Denverite on Tuesday, saying the restaurant’s lease is expiring and they couldn’t come to terms on an extension.

“We’ve been in downtown Denver for 45 years,” he said. “We’re aggressively looking for other locations in Denver and Colorado.”

Last summer, the Portland-based chain opened a location at 9145 Sheridan Blvd. in Westminster. That restaurant is still open.

The downtown restaurant has been located at the Denver City Cable Railway Building since 1973, when it was saved from demolition by the restaurant chain and an “accidental president” of Historic Denver.

Former state representative Joel Judd praised restaurant founder Guss Dussin for his work with Judd’s father, Jim Judd, to save the old building.

“As much as anyone, he’s the reason we all still have that building. He contributed more to Denver than just red sauce and mizithra cheese,” Joel Judd wrote in an email.

There is no sign that the building itself will undergo major changes. No one has filed permits for any major work on the structure, according to a search of public records.

Correction: Due to an editing error, this article previously mistated Joel Judd’s elected office.