Restaurant demolished near Kalamazoo, developer plans new construction

KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI – A former Long John Silver’s restaurant building has been demolished, leaving only the iconic fast food restaurant’s signage standing.

The familiar signage is also a sign of things to come — as the developer plans to build a new, renovated Long John Silver’s on the same site.

The Long John Silver’s building, located at 5481 W. Main St., had been largely razed by the morning of Tuesday, July 16, with bricks and other remnants of the building left in its place. Caution tape was placed around the demolition site where Kalamazoo Excavation crews demolished the building in Oshtemo Township, near Kalamazoo.

The building had been condemned since the 2018 fire, Oshtemo Supervisor Cheri Bell told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette. California-based ATT Avon LLC is listed as the business’s owner in property records.

Scott Bradley, a development representative for Long John Silver’s, said the chain is in the midst of a brand overhaul and that new locations built from scratch in other locations have been well-received so far.

“We’re really excited about this location,” Bradley said. It’s on a corner lot with great visibility. He declined to say how much money will be spent on the new construction.

Project organizers plan to open the new restaurant around November, he told MLive/Kalamazoo Gazette.

Last December, the Oshtemo Charter Township Planning Commission unanimously approved plans to redevelop a 2,288-square-foot building to house a fast-food restaurant and drive-thru, along with a few conditions the board said would need to be worked out before the project could move forward, township documents show.

The complete rebuild is intended to revitalize the restaurant and bring it up to code, according to documents. The building sits on about a half-acre of land. The new building will be slightly larger than the one that was demolished, a project engineer said.

As part of the brand overhaul, Long John Silver’s is working on plans to introduce new menu items, likely next year, Bradley said.

The first Long John Silver’s opened in 1969 in Lexington, Kentucky, and the brand has grown to dozens of locations across the country, including 21 in Michigan, the company’s website says.

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