Old McDonald's to be Demolished as Center Decides What's Next

For 40 years the McDonald's in the Madison Mall shopping center steadily attracted business. However, in as little as two weeks the fast food restaurant will be reduced to nothing but rubble.

Plans for replacing the old McDonald's are still being developed, but officials from the Madison Mall property management company, GRE Management Services, believe the building could be demolished as early as the beginning of March.

"We're coming up with plans for a new building, but it's all in the preliminary stages right now," said GRE property manager Laurinda Stout. "We're kind of coming up with a building design that will go along with the rest of the shopping center."

Once the building designs are complete, GRE's leasing staff will begin looking at appropriate business applicants to fill the building, Stout said.

The owners of the 40-year-old franchised McDonald's, John and Terry Ritchey made the decision to relocate their business for a number of reasons, including a desire to improve access to the business.

"We wanted to be on the breakfast side of Hazel Avenue," said the Ritchey's son, Joe Ahumada. "It's a little easier for our customers to get on and off on that side of Hazel."

For Ahumada and his parents, the decision to move locations meant improving breakfast business with the early-morning commuter crowd. The new location being on the south-bound side of Hazel meant commuters could pull right up to fast food restaurant on their way to work.

"If we didn't think it was going to work there (the new location), we probably would have remodled like we'd done in the past," Ahumada said. "It's one of those things where the building is 40-years-old and things are getting a little older, so it's nice to have something brand new and more efficient."

Among those improvements Ahumada noted the new McDonald's totes interior and exterior LED lighting, new energy efficient kitchen equipment and water-efficient heaters and bathroom equipment.

Though Ahumada and his parents won't have any direct interaction with what replaces their old restaurant, Ahumada has talked with GRE about the property management team's preliminary plans. "They've told me about making it a three- or a four-plex," he said, meaning the building could potentially house as many as four separate businesses.