PORT ANGELES — The large pit to the north of the new McDonald’s restaurant that is being erected at 1706 E. Front St. is a stormwater retention basin.
“It is a storm retention vault, and the idea there is that all the stormwater from the lot in the store goes into that vault and it is metered out to the Port Angeles storm system,” franchise owner Brian Beaulaurier said Friday.
The basin will be in use during heavy rains and is engineered to prevent the storm drainage system from being overwhelmed in accordance with city requirements, Beaulaurier said.
The concrete tank will be buried once it is completed and located beneath the asphalt parking lot out of sight, he said.
Beaulaurier, a Yakima native, is president of Kirkland-based Laurier Enterprises, which controls 14 McDonald’s franchises between Port Angeles and Belfair, including the restaurant in Sequim.
Completion date
The $2.5 million project to replace the McDonald’s building, which began in mid-January, is on time and on budget and is expected to be completed in May, Beaulaurier said.
“If everything goes OK, the plan is to open it for Memorial Day,” he said.
Beaulaurier said the foundation has been poured for the new restaurant and that “all the underground plumbing and electrical conduits are all in place.”
When completed, the 5,000-square-foot, 122-seat restaurant will be about the same size as the former eatery, with construction and equipment costs pegged at $1.25 million each, Beaulaurier said.
The former building on the edge of the eastern city limit was completed Dec. 16, 1976 — when Gerald Ford was president.
Replacing it is a contractual obligation under which McDonald’s restaurants must be rebuilt every 40 years.
The new McDonald’s will include a second drive-through lane with the building facing east rather than north, Beaulaurier said.
Guests will order at either of the drive-through stands and then take turns zipping into one lane to pay and pick up orders, Beaulaurier said.
2nd drive-through
That will prevent a long line of cars from extending out onto the public street, he said.
“We won’t have to stack into the street like we used to,” he said.
Beaulaurier said he is “pleased” with the way the new building “is laying out on the lot. I am really excited about it.”
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.