BizBeat: JC original McDonald's finishes renovation

The McDonald's on Missouri Boulevard in Jefferson City has undergone a makeover.
The McDonald's on Missouri Boulevard in Jefferson City has undergone a makeover.

An extensive renovation of Jefferson City's original McDonald's location was completed July 31.

The renovation removed the red soffit on the roof, replaced the bathrooms and seating area. Digital menu boards also replaced old menus and four self-serve kiosks were installed.

Local McDonald's franchisee Butch Ruprecht said the renovation cost $1.3 million-$1.4 million and he made the investment so the restaurant would remain viable for a long time to come.

"It looks like a brand new building," Ruprecht said. "It's beautiful now."

Opened in 1965, the location was McDonald's store No. 144 in the country when Ruprecht's father, Bill, opened the restaurant. Ruprecht has already put McDonald's locations in Linn and at 3124 S. Ten Mile Drive through similar remodels that gave aging restaurants the boxy look of modern McDonald's store.

The seating area at Ruprecht's Holts Summit store will go through a similar rehab in January as all McDonald's nationwide undergo facelifts.

Throughout the two-month renovation, the drive-thru remained open, but the seating area closed for three weeks. The last major renovation the store went through was 12 years ago.

At age 8, Ruprecht often sat on potato sacks as employees made french fries by hand. Later, as a 14 year-old, he started working for his father at the restaurant, which then featured large golden arches running parallel across the sides and had no seating area.

His father died in 2011. After a ribbon-cutting that marked the completion of the renovation, Ruprecht said the Missouri Boulevard store remains special to him.

"It's my favorite one," Ruprecht said. "This (renovation) is kind of emotional because it's where I got my start."

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