The McDonald’s museum in Des Plaines, a replica of Ray Kroc’s first restaurant, is slated to be torn down next month, the world’s largest burger chain said Monday.
Kroc, considered by the company to be the founder of the modern chain, built his first restaurant in 1955 after franchising the brand from the original owners, Richard and Maurice McDonald. The Des Plaines restaurant was torn down in 1984, the same year Kroc died. The McDonald’s Store No. 1 Museum opened the next year, with the original restaurant’s sign out front.
The museum was a popular destination for tourists over the years, with thousands of visitors stopping in to see the red-and-white tiled mock-up restaurant complete with a mannequin crew and original milkshake mixers, grills, fryers and other memorabilia on display.
Repeated flooding led the museum to close off interior access in 2008, while still allowing tourists to peek in the windows.
McDonald’s said visitors to the site have declined in the last decade since tourists have been barred from entering the space. Flooding in the area also continues to be a problem.
“We have decided to permanently close the replica of McDonald’s first franchised restaurant and hope to donate the land to the City of Des Plaines,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “The re-created restaurant … has not regularly welcomed visitors since closing to the public 10 years ago. This combined with the building’s location and the feasibility to reopen and maintain it led us to this decision. This property in Des Plaines will always have a special place in our company’s history.”
McDonald’s plans to apply for a permit this week to demolish the structure. A spokeswoman said the exact date of demolition is unknown, but that the company “will remove and preserve anything of historical value before the work begins.”
The original McDonald’s restaurant in Des Plaines was the ninth McDonald’s restaurant in the country, but the company considers the location to be the birthplace of the modern version of the chain, which has over 36,000 restaurants around the world today.
Des Plaines City Manager Michael Bartholomew didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
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