Welcome back, Ronald.

Greenville’s own McDonald’s franchise will re-open to the public on Wednesday at 7 a.m., according to storeowners.

The store has been closed since June.

“It’s been a challenge,” said co-owner Loretta Hay. “We’ve had our crew in Montgomery and plus we’ve been paying all of this money out (on construction) and nothing is coming in. But I know everybody’s excited, especially in the community.”

Mrs. Hay said the store received its health permit on Monday.

Loretta Hay’s husband and fellow co-owner, Ron Hay, said construction on the new building remained on-schedule for the most part.

“There’s always some bumps in the road and we probably lost three or four days when Hurricane Gustav came through,” he said.

Crewmembers spent much of Tuesday training for Wednesday’s re-opening. Mr. Hay said the majority of management and staff that worked at McDonalds’s three months ago would be returning.

Changes to one of Greenville’s first fast food establishments include a new indoor PlayPlace, additional and more comfortable seating, flat screen televisions and larger bathrooms.

“We have about 101 seats inside and about 30 seats in the play area,” said Mr. Hay. “We’ve also got two computer games for the kids and we now have dual drive-thrus.”

Additionally, McDonald’s will now be open around the clock, said Mr. Hay.

Mayor Dexter McLendon has toured the new building and said he couldn’t believe how large it was.

“When I saw them demolish the old one, I didn’t know how they were going to make it much bigger,” he said. “But man, it’s big.”

McLendon said he’s glad to see McDonald’s re-open, not only for the significant sales tax boost, but also because those patented Golden Arches are a huge draw for travelers on I-65.

“We get so many people off the Interstate because of McDonalds,” said McLendon. “We’re happy they’re here and they thought well enough as a city to remodel the old one. We’ve got a new Walgreens on one side and a new McDonalds on the other so that area is really looking good.”