A McDonald's sign in Northern Ireland. 10 February, 2016. (Photo by Albert Bridge)A McDonald's sign in Northern Ireland. 10 February, 2016. (Photo by Albert Bridge)
Sarnia

Golden Arches development underway in Petrolia

Construction of a McDonald's restaurant in Petrolia has been a dream, over a decade in the making, that's finally coming true.

Peter Buckley, and his wife Colleen, who operate four franchises in Sarnia and one in Strathroy, are looking forward to their sixth location.

"Thirteen years ago we moved from Sarnia to Petrolia with our family and fell in love with the town," said Peter. "Within just a few months of living there, we began to look around at real estate, so we approached McDonald's about 12 years ago and said, 'this would be a great town for a McDonald's.'"

The restaurant, being built on the southeast corner of Petrolia Line and Oil Heritage Road, will also include a Shell Gas Bar on site.

"It's going to be smaller. I think it's going to have a side-by-side drive through. It will be full menu. It will be a full-serve restaurant. The Shell station is going to have a car wash attached to it."

Buckley expects the restaurant will employ about 75 people.

"It's a vibrant, growing, bustling community, and they're pro-development. We're not going to invest that kind of time and resource into a place that we don't think is going to be a home run."

Buckley said crews have just started bringing services into the site and they hope to complete construction by late spring, early summer.

"There's been rumours about this for years, I've been getting, 'congratulations on your new site,' that was like six years ago and I'm like, 'ok, whatever,' Buckley laughed. "But, this is finally becoming a reality and the community has been 100 per cent supportive. You go to the grocery store, you go into town, and people are excited about having a McDonald's in town and having that employer in town as well."

Photo L-R: Councillor and TAC Committee member Joel Field, Mayor R. Brad Loosley, Hardeep Grewal, Jagnoor Grewal, Chief Administrative Officer Rick Charlebois, and Countyof Lambton Planner Rob Nesbitt gather at the site of a new McDonald's. Photo submitted by the Town of Petrolia. November, 2020. Photo L-R: Councillor and TAC Committee member Joel Field, Mayor R. Brad Loosley, Hardeep Grewal, Jagnoor Grewal, Chief Administrative Officer Rick Charlebois, and County of Lambton Planner Rob Nesbitt gather at the site of a new McDonald's. Photo submitted by the Town of Petrolia. November, 2020.

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