By Jim Troyer
jtroyer@postbulletin.com
Look for new Golden Arches rising above Austin this fall.
A new McDonald's will be visible from Interstate 90 and will lead travelers to a new building on the current site of Ankeny's Mini Mart No. 5 at 1400 14th St. N.W.
Store manager Jim Witt said construction will begin Tuesday and the new building, including a service station and store on the south and the new McDonald's on the north, will open in mid-November, if the weather cooperates.
ADVERTISEMENT
The area where the existing store stands will house fuel pumps and a 120-foot canopy, about twice the size of the present canopy, Witt said. The station will retain the Sinclair brand. A car wash will be in the back.
The new restaurant will include the full McDonald's menu and include drive-through service.
Mike Ankeny will own the new building and lease the restaurant space to Dave Scherer for whom this will be the eighth McDonald's in the area.
Contacted at his home Friday afternoon, Scherer said the new restaurant will be similar to the one he opened on Happy Trails Lane in Albert Lea in 1998. It will have somewhat less floor space than a full-size McDonald's.
"Having a good location is very important," Scherer said. "We get interstate traffic at the Austin one (1009 W. Oakland) already. They come in for McDonald's."
The Joseph Company Inc. of Austin will handle construction. Project manager Craig Holmen said the new building will go up first on the open area behind the existing structure.
Operation of the store won't have to be shut down more than a day or two, but gasoline sales will be interrupted as the old building comes down and the new service area installed.
"Construction goes on year-round nowadays, but it's hard to do asphalt in cold weather, '' he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The new store will be the same size as the current one, he pointed out, but it will seem larger because it will be open to the new restaurant.
"The front area will be larger," he said. "Motor homes will be able to get in and out easily. That's a big plus."
Holmen described the car wash as a single line, drive-through model, totally touchless and pay-at-the-pump.
