McDonald?s restaurant closes midnight Saturday 

The existing McDonald?s restaurant will close its doors at midnight Saturday, giving contractors a month to demolish it before the new store?s grand opening.

The new McDonald?s, constructed immediately west of the exiting structure at 1705 W. Burlington Ave., is tentatively scheduled to open Sept. 29.

Dale Frederick, who owns the local McDonald?s with his wife Barb, said construction is on schedule. The McDonald?s Corporation averages 87 days as the time it takes to rebuild a restaurant, according to Frederick. His McDonald?s in Mount Pleasant took 88 days.

?We?re very happy with the construction company so far, and everything seems to be progressing,? Frederick said.

He said the utilities are ?roughed in,? and the construction crew is finishing the kitchen walls. Floor tile and heating and cooling are scheduled to go in next week. The new equipment arrives the first week in September, and the new seating and décor arrives after.

The smaller 4,330 square-foot restaurant will seat 80 compared to the roughly 150 the current restaurant and playground accommodate.

Plans for the new restaurant include two drive-through lanes and elimination of the playground. The store also will feature mostly LED lighting, energy- and shortening-saving state-of-the-art fryers and an energy-saving computer-controlled walk-in freezer and cooler, Frederick said.

Parts of the existing building will be recycled as possible.