Opened in 1974, the Bridgeport McDonald’s was the nation’s 3,884th home of the golden arches. The trend then was to fashion the fast food chain locations after a local hot spot and at that time for Bridgeport, it was the Harrison-Marion Regional Airport. So the brand new McDonald’s featured a suspending airplane and accompanying pit area.

Fast forward 39 years and our local McDonald’s is getting a fresh new look – a rebuild, in fact, which will result in a bigger dining area and dual drive-through. In order to position that drive-through, the new store will be situate a little closer to Rt. 50 than the present one, said Lisa Cook, marketing director.

“There will also be a dual-point ordering system inside. Customers will come to one register to order and then get their food at the end of the counter,” she said.

With now close to 30,000 McDonald’s locations across the nation – the New Pointe store was the 24,885th, by the way – the new design trend is to streamline the restaurants with some universal plans. Still, owners get a choice of which design would be most appealing to its customers.

After traveling to some area stores for ideas, John Ebert - owner of the Bridgeport store and 10 others in West Virginia, as well as five in Maryland – visited some area locations to shop for available design packages to be utilized in his various stores.

“John visited different McDonald’s around Ohio and Pennsylvania,” Cook said. “It’s easier to look at them once they are done than to look at two-by-two inch color brand squares. When we hear of one that has been completed, we go look at the packages.”

Ultimately chosen for the Bridgeport location was a design spotted in a Pittsburgh McDonald’s – featuring circular graphics and blending purples and browns for a cutting-edge look. Flat-screen TVs will be available for dining-time viewing. Along with the rebuild comes the disappearance of the play land – which is happening at McDonald’s across the board, Cook said.

Redecorating of McDonald’s stores has been going on through the years. The first for the Bridgeport store was replacing the airplane theme with a softer pink and teal design in a wave pattern and floral curtains.

The restaurants have extended in size extensively since they opened during the mid-century. Back in the 1950s when the chain first emerged, the stores were quite small.

“You couldn’t go inside and eat,” Cook said. “You had to stay in the car and eat or go back home.”

Back then, workers wore aprons and paper hats. And they were all male workers because the women didn’t hold jobs outside the home.

The biggest McDonalds trademark is certainly the infamous double golden arches. Their first purpose was actually to support the building, but later the chain went with a four-sided, gambrel-style Mansard roof.

“Now they’re getting rid of that and everything will be streamlined as far as the outside design,” Cook said.

The Bridgeport store is slated to close in late-May or early-June. The newly rebuilt McDonalds should open by summer’s end. 

Cook reassures customers that the work will be completed in an efficient manner.  Customers who make McDonalds a part of their morning routine are being accommodated at the New Pointe store, she said. All customers are thanked for their ongoing patronage. They will be pleased with the outcome of the rebuild, Cook said. It will open in a celebratory fashion.

Some of Ebert’s other stores are in the planning stages for renovations. Already completed are his stores at New Pointe and Nutter Fort.