Here’s when the new A&W restaurant in Belleville will be ready for business
Some of you in the east end of Belleville may have noticed the activity at the former Scott Credit Union building on Carlyle Avenue.
The renovation of the building for a new A&W Restaurant location is well underway.
I drove by one day last week to see what was going on and spotted multiple trucks, including vehicles from plumbing and electrical companies.
I spoke to franchise owner James Sill, who provided an update.
“It’s moving along,” said Sill, adding that they started the renovation by taking the building “down to four walls, starting from scratch.”
(I can confirm this. In an earlier drive around the building, I spied an open back door, a full dumpster and a view of the cleared space through a window.)
Sill said that the drive-thru lanes of the former credit union will remain to provide multiple ordering lanes.
Employees will be present in each lane, equipped with iPads to take food orders.
This method will make serving customers more efficient and is becoming a more common practice among fast food restaurants, according to Sill.
Since the BND reported the project in March 2021, there were delays due to supply issues, a common problem for many new businesses, particularly restaurants, during the last two years.
The initial opening date was set for early 2022, but the schedule was affected by delays in acquiring kitchen equipment, Sill told the Illinois Business Journal last July.
Sill and his business partner Jim Sprick, have another A&W Restaurant, located at 3966 Jeffco Blvd. in Arnold, Missouri, which had similar supply delays. Sill said the Arnold location is set to open in 2-3 weeks.
Sill gave a target opening date of Sept. 1 for the Belleville restaurant, barring any additional supply delays.
He said the building construction will be finished, but it’s waiting on the kitchen equipment that’s “driving the agenda.”
“Fall is a good time to open a restaurant,” said Sill, as families will be getting back into regular routines with vacation season ending and school starting.
