Progress Continues On McDonald’s Reconstruction

It’s not quite the golden arches, but the arm of a concrete pump poured concrete for the parking lot at the new McDonald’s restaurant building at 706 Ste. Genevieve Drive. Arthur Ostmann General Contracting is in charge of the project, and McDonald’s owner Jessica Lucas still hopes the facility will open — at least for drive-through service — the first week of June. (Photo by MARK EVANS/Herald staff)

So far, neither weather nor the COVID-19 virus appear likely to push back the anticipated early June opening of the new McDonald’s restaurant in Ste. Genevieve.
Owner Jessica Lucas said work is on schedule, which means at least the opening of the new facility’s twin drive-through lanes by the first week in June is possible.
“Obviously, things can change, with everything that’s going on with COVID-19 and everything, as of right now, everything is still on, and we’re still looking at the beginning of June, like we had planned in the beginning,” Lucas said last week. “As of now everything is still OK, and still on track.”
The local facility closed its doors at the end of the business day on February 19. The old building, which was built in 1979, was then emptied and demolished. A new building is under construction. It will feature two drive-through lanes.
Lucas agreed that with the possibility of the COVID-19 lock-down extending through the summer or beyond, the double drive-through design may be a game-changer for the operation to make up for lost revenue.
“We’re obviously so glad we’re doing double drive-through, especially right now, because who knows with COVID-19,” she said. “We’re hoping all of this gets over quickly and we can still have our grand opening as planned and still have the lobby open. But, we’re of course going to follow McDonald’s and CDC [Centers for Disease Control] guidelines and if they’re recommending that we only have drive-through open at that time or only have carry-out open, we’ll follow their recommendations.”
See complete story in the April 15 edition of the Herald.