“Are we going to lose the retro McDonald’s to the new McDonald’s design?” asked Woodbridge District Supervisor Frank Principi at an Oct. 2, 2012, meeting.
“Retro? It’s like your going to miss it,” said Prince William County Board of Supervisors Corey Stewart, At-large.
“It’s a classic design,” replied Principi.
“Good riddance,” said Stewart.
It was a lighter moment in a meeting that had dragged on for more than six hours. It was captured on video and is now archived on the Prince William County website.
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A short time later, McDonalds moved out of its old “retro” drive-through only location at Smoketown Stations, at the corner of Prince William Parkway and Shoppers Best Way, into a new freestanding restaurant across the parking lot. The new McDonalds looks like nearly every other McDonalds you see dotting the roadside today, with space for inside dining, and a drive through.
The previous drive-through only version had a design that harkened back to the the 1950s, when the fast-food giant was founded. There were large arches that adorned the side of the building, two drive-through lanes, a walk-up window, and picnic tables out front.
The “double drive through” was built in the early 1990s, during a time when Prince William County was just beginning it’s rapid expansion in the east. Potomac Mills mall expanded, and alongside it a Walmart and Sams Club were built.
Today, the building is vacant eyesore situated on one of most heavily traveled roads in and out of Prince William. Thousands of commuters, and shoppers — many of them from outside of the county bound for Potomac Mills mall — pass by it every day.
Dr. Jack Kooyoomjian from the Lake Ridge – Occoquan – Coles District Civic Association called the building an eyesore that’s sitting in the same shopping center near where Hobby Lobby will soon replace Shoppers Food Warehouse.
A representative from the McDonalds that moved across the street told Potomac Local the building is not owned by the fast food giant, but rather Exxon gas station that sits next to the old drive-through McDonalds.
Prince William County’s neighborhood services division is now looking into the boarded up building after we told them what we found. County spokesman Jason Grant said there have been no complaints filed about the building.
The investigation should take about 30 days to complete, and should ensure the building is safe and in compliance with building codes, said Grant.
