WAIPOULI — One of the oldest McDonald’s in the state is going to be replaced. The County of Kauai approved two building permits Monday for McDonald’s Corp. and Construction Associates to demolish and rebuild the existing restaurant at Waipouli Plaza.
WAIPOULI — One of the oldest McDonald’s in the state is going to be replaced.
The County of Kauai approved two building permits Monday for McDonald’s Corp. and Construction Associates to demolish and rebuild the existing restaurant at Waipouli Plaza. The demolition will cost $51,200 and the price tag for the new restaurant will be $2.4 million.
Although considered to be a historic property by the franchise, the building itself does not reach the level of a historical asset to consider preservation of the structure. It’s uneven design presents many concerns as the franchise moves forward and rebuilding was the best option, according to corporate officials.
“The Waipouli McDonald’s has been there for about 32 years and is one of our most historic,” said Tricia Dang, construction manager for McDonald’s Corp. “This is a refreshing of buildings that is happening around the state.”
The building has aged and its design doesn’t conform well with an expanded menu. The new technologies both in front and behind the counter do not work well with this design, she said.
Darlene Chung owns and operate all five McDonald’s restaurants on Kauai at Waipouli, Lihue, Eleele, and inside the Walmart and Kukui Grove locations.
No one questioned whether the store should come down, said Matthew Kilgore, a staff architect with Koa Architects in Kamuela. The challenges were largely civil engineering issues, with a location in the flood zone, and adjacent to a spillway between the two neighboring plazas.
“It wasn’t insurmountable,” he said.
Kilgore said the civil issues were worked out early this year and that the designs had some back and forth with the county until March. They had anticipated breaking ground in June but there was a hold up on the permits until October.
McDonald’s Corp. could break ground later this year, or they could move construction to next year’s calendar, Kilgore said. It could take six to 10 months to complete under the contractor, Construction Associates of Oahu.
“There is over $3 million into this project with the equipment and everything,” Kilgore added.
The new McDonald’s will be clean and sleek with a lot of steel and glass and consistent with the future look envisioned by the corporation, he said.
Many of the standards that were familiar to McDonald’s for the past 40 years will be gone.
There will be canopies and awnings but the red, sloping faux roof will be gone. It was used to hide the actual flat roof that contained a lot of external restaurant equipment, he said, and now has a more modern look.
Kilgore said Kauai is known for its red dirt, so the restaurant will have an oyster shell facade.
The current design has customers walking across the drive-through to get from the parking lot to the restaurant. Once inside, the “L-shaped” floor plan and restrooms were difficult to access by wheelchair and the dining rooms were on multiple levels.
“The new restaurant is a rectangular one-level and completely ADA accessible,” Kilgore said. “Everything is much easier to get to and you don’t have to cross the drive-through to get to the main entrance.”
