Chipotle comes to Kirkwood

The Kirkwood McDonald's was once a place to enjoy a quick meal and to meet friends or family. Then the restaurant closed its doors, boarded up the windows and turned off the lights for good, leaving only the picnic tables in the front. \nSince then, the store remained unoccupied and a sight that became unpleasant to the public.\nThe owner of the property began to employ workers to tear down the store with the plans of building a Mexican restaurant called Chipotle in its place, James Roach, Bloomington senior zoning planner said.\n"The company Chipotle assumed the lease that McDonald's had," said Richard Schmalz, owner of the property.\nThe McDonald's building is no longer there and has been replaced by a construction zone.\nBefore the restaurant building can begin its construction, the city is finishing a project referred to as the "Big Dig." \nThe Big Dig began in 2000 to repair the Jordan River culvert. The project ended right in front of McDonald's, which, at the time, was an active business, said Patrick Murphy, Bloomington director of utilities. \nThe Jordan River runs through campus and then continues to run underground through most of Kirkwood and Dunn streets.\n"There was a building on top of (where they wanted to dig), we couldn't (finish) with an active building on top of it," Murphy said.\nThe dig will improve Bloomington by rebuilding the culvert underground to prevent any flooding that was once an issue for the businesses on Kirkwood, Roach said. This latest portion of the construction will complete the Big Dig.\nWith the McDonald's store no longer in the way the city can finish repairing the culvert.\n"They have taken the opportunity to rebuild [the culvert]," Roach said.\nBefore the dig could take place the officials had to talk to the business owners surrounding the area and other administrative issues.\n"We had to talk to the property owners (too)," Murphy said.\nThe construction of the new restaurant won't start until after the digging is finished.\n"Just as soon as the city gets it cleared out," Schmalz said regarding when the building will precede with its own construction.\nThe digging won't start until after Labor Day and will take about eight weeks, Schmalz said.\n"They are ready to go," Schmalz said. "The company has to wait until the city is finished."\n-- Contact staff writer Joetta Hinton at jehinton@indiana.edu