After operating in Thompson for the last two decades, the McDonald’s building located at 217 Mystery Lake Road will officially close its doors for good as of 6 p.m. May 13.
Following the building's demolition, a new 90-seat, 5,769-square-foot facility will be constructed in its place on the existing lot and on part of the adjacent Anay-Powin Circle.
While construction will continue throughout the spring and summer of 2018, owner Brett O’Meara said that the Walmart location will remain open.
“We’ll be fully operational at Walmart starting at 8 a.m. on Monday,” he said. “And we’ve got equipment upgrades and seating upgrades that we’re doing at Walmart so we can serve everyone.”
Thompson city council originally greenlit this project during a Jan. 29 city council meeting, mentioning that McDonald’s agreed to pay the city $66,088 to develop this project on their land.
At the end of that meeting, Coun. Penny Byer said this project instills her with a lot of excitement, since it shows that business owners are still willing to invest in Thompson during these financially uncertain times.
“It’s not often you’ll find a company who is willing to tear down their building and shut their business down for four months while they redevelop. That is a huge investment in the City of Thompson.”
O’Meara also told the Thompson Citizen that this restaurant managed to squeeze in one final event before Sunday’s closure.
On May 2, they raised $3,500 for Ronald McDonald House through McHappy Day, where $1 from every Big Mac, Happy Meal and hot beverage sold goes towards charity.
“It wasn’t a record day in terms of money raised, but again, that’s related to the fact that we do have construction starting in the next [several] days and we thought it was going to be starting earlier,” said O’Meara.
Throughout the upcoming spring and summer, O’Meara said that his staff will do their best to accommodate local customers during this transitional period.
“We’re hoping that everyone will give us a chance at Walmart to come and get their favourite cupof coffee and we’re looking forward to showcasing the new restaurant, which will be something very special and unique for Thompson.”
