McDonald's shutting down for 90 days

The Springfield McDonald's will close its doors this coming Sunday for demolition of its present building and construction of a new, smaller, more energy efficient facility.
http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/20130724/NEWS02/707249907

Published July 24, 2013 in the Rutland Herald McDonald’s in Springfield to be demolished By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — After a couple of months of delay, McDonald’s restaurant is finally coming down. Demolition of the 1970s-era fast-food restaurant is slated to begin next week, according to Howard Williams, maintenance and technology supervisor for Coughlin Inc., the owner of the Springfield restaurant. Williams said the restaurant’s last day will be Sunday. He said the next restaurant will open in about 90 days. McDonald’s officials had originally hoped to have the new restaurant open in September. They also had hoped to start construction in the spring, but they experienced some permit delays. The new restaurant will be moved about 60 feet on its existing lot and will have two drive-up windows, Williams said. “It will be an updated restaurant, with the same menu,” said Williams, who oversees Coughlin’s 18 McDonald’s restaurants in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and New York. He said most of the 60 employees would be transferred to other McDonald’s restaurants owned by Coughlin, with the closest one in Claremont, N.H. He said the new restaurant would more closely resemble the McDonald’s in West Lebanon, N.H., which is not owned by Coughlin. “It will be a more modern facility. I would use the word smarter, and more comfortable, for both our customers and employees,” he said. The town granted Coughlin permission to tear down the old restaurant and build a new one in March. The state granted the project a new Act 250 state land use permit on June 12, according to Springfield Zoning Administrator Bill Kearns. The new restaurant will eliminate the shortcut through the driveway and parking lot of the old restaurant. In addition to McDonald’s, fast-food aficionados also will have a new Dunkin’ Donuts drive-up restaurant to choose from, when it opens at 252 River St., at the south end of the Morse Properties building near the Sherwin Williams paint store. Kearns said the second Dunkin’ Donuts location in Springfield is owned by the same owner, Constantine Scrivanos of the Scrivanos Franchise Group of North Reading, Mass.