Business & Tech

Detroit Theatre Demolition, McDonald's Construction Set to Begin

Construction of the fast-food restaurant expected to be wrapped up by Halloween.

The final curtain is set to close on the this spring to make way for the Golden Arches of McDonald’s.

Demolition of the nearly 90-year-old-year-old building is expected to begin by May once all the tenants have moved out. 

Construction of the new — which would move the Sloane Avenue location — would begin shortly afterward.

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“We’re hoping to have it open by Halloween,” said Mike Lewis, the project manager for the Lakewood McDonald’s. “In construction there are always things that can slow you down.”

The project so far hasn’t exactly been speedy.  By the time demolition begins, it will have been a year since first introduced the proposal to the city.

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There have been , and a series of public meetings. 

“This deal is a little more complicated than most that I am used to,” said Lewis.
“It needed a lot of attention because there was a lot of concern. I think we did everything we could to accommodate (residents’) concerns. At the end of the day, it’s still a commercial property that’s at the end of a residential street.”

He said that the Lakewood McDonald’s will stand out in the portfolio of other newly designed McDonald’s across the country.

“We’re rebranding ourselves nationwide,” Lewis said, adding that the double roof-lines and the red and yellow hues are a thing of the past.

“The company across the system is changing… This is a one-of-a-kind building — it’s very specific to the community. The goal is to have it blend into Lakewood — to create something that Lakewood embrace, and also have the ability for our customers recognize that it’s still a McDonald’s.”

The property will be held by Lakewood-based , which will lease the land to McDonald’s.


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