Modern McDonald's Coming to Martin Plaza

Scott Rardin has grown up with McDonald’s—literally.

The Roanoke, VA, businessman owns 14 of the fast-food restaurants, known for its iconic golden arches. Among those franchises in the Essex-Middle River area, are a pair in  and one .

Where the Martin Plaza McDonald’s once stood, however, is nothing more than a pile of rubble after Rardin had it tore down as part of a plan to construct a larger, more modern structure on the same site.

“We’re looking forward to offering our customers better service and more modern amenities,” said Rardin, who helped his father run his seven McDonald’s prior to opening his first restaurant in 1999.

The new McDonald’s is part of a billion-dollar initiative by McDonald’s—launched in 2006—to remake many of its restaurants, whose previous model dates back to the 1970s.

The fast-food industry giant plans to renovate or rebuild most franchises within the next five years, including about 100 in the region, said Dave Neiss, director of redevelopment for McDonald’s in the Baltimore-Washington region. Neiss added that renovations can take up to two months while those being rebuilt can take up to 90 days to be completed.

The most noticeable characteristic common to all the updated buildings will be a single golden swoop along the roof, replacing the double arches that customers have grown to look for when craving McDonald's.

Among the other items to be expected from the Martin Plaza McDonald’s, which is set to reopen in mid-October, are two drive-thru lanes, additional seating, flat-screen TVs and interactive video games for children at certain tables. There will also be free Wi-Fi available.

“We want to change with the times while continuing to offer quality customer service,” Neiss said. “The building model most people associate with McDonald’s is an older building used in the 1970s, '80s and '90s. These buildings are more relevant with the changing times.”

Rardin, who stressed that he was able to temporarily transfer his Martin Plaza employees to the Hawthorne McDonald’s, said customers are going to be pleasantly surprised by the changes.

“You’re going to see quicker, and more efficient, service and we can’t wait to show that to our customers,” Rardin said.