Cheyenne's Chick Fil A is remodeling

Chick Fil A building, looking toward the drive thru window during remodel - Optopolis

Cheyenne's Chick Fil A is in the process of an overhaul of the lobby/dining room as well as tweaks to the parking lot area! For the time being, the dining room is closed. Here's a glance at the progress and what to expect!

A look at Cheyenne's CFA history

Here in Cheyenne, Chick Fil A originally opened a location at the Frontier Mall, which dates back to when the mall opened; the location unfortunately closed in 2020 in spite of efforts to stay open including setting up a make shift drive thru outside their store (and the mall).

CFA as seen during an evening in late 2022 - Optopolis

Taking a step back before 2020 for a moment, the Windmill Rd Chick Fil A was already in the works by 2014, opening in 2015 as noted in this KFBC article written by Reece Monaco and posted on opening day. This location is iconic in that it's Wyoming's first standalone Chick Fil A. It was also the first business to be built on one of Menard's outlots.

Next door to Chick Fil A, a Firestone Tires would be built, followed by a Tommy's Express Car Wash.

LEFT: Firestone Tires around the time of being built | RIGHT: Tommy's Express seen in 2023 - Optopolis

Windmill/Dell Range CFA undergoes its first remodel

To the surprise of Optopolis, the Windmill Rd Chick Fil A actually began the process of remodeling in early May 2023! The lobby/dining room fully closed up for an overhaul on May 8th according to both a posted sign in the front door and a post from the locations' Facebook page.

Sign sharing information about the dining room closure and the remodel - Optopolis

A rather quite decent amount of work is being done to refresh the interior. Permits in the Cheyenne City Planning Website indicate that the walls were set to be replaced, various surfaces were to get caulked, and new partitions in the bathrooms--among other changes.

In a follow-up Facebook post from the Cheyenne CFA, one can see just how much had actually changed at that point, including ripping off the old dry wall in the lobby area.

In a more recent post from May 22nd, they said they don't know exactly when the dining room will reopen, posting further update photos of the interior still being significantly stripped clean of old materials.

However, signage posted right now at the location indicates those who make mobile orders and are Door Dashers can go inside to pick up their orders.

"Mobile Orders & Door Dashers Only" sign posted next to south-side entry - Optopolis

Back to the permits, the site plans indicate that only the lobby/dining room and bathrooms are set to get this refresh. For now, the play area and kitchen will remain untouched. The site plans note the project name, "DESIGN - ALWAYS FRESH."

There are also plans for some tweaks to the parking lot and drive thru area. A grading permit submitted on May 11th indicates plans to add both an escape lane just south of the drive thru window and an exit slip lane leading from the parking lot to the northwest Menards parking lot entry found along Windmill Rd.

TOP: The vicinity of the planned drive thru escape lane | BOTTOM: The vicinity of the planned exit slip lane next to the garbage storage area - Optopolis

Along with the escape lane, a new canopy would be placed above the drive thru pickup window; the existing overhang would be demolished.

As it stands right now (May 17th), the Grading Permit (submitted on May 11th) as well as the Mechanical/HVAC, Plumbing, and Electrical permits (submitted on May 22nd) are all "In Progress;" the Restaurant/Bars Remodel/Addition permit has been "Approved."

Dining room is now open

As shared in a reel posted by Cheyenne's CFA, the dining room was set to reopen on June 26th. A story posted by Cheyenne Chamber on Instagram, the dining room was indeed open by or before July 1st. The drive thru/parking lot project is still yet to coalesce; as of July 3rd, the permit is marked in the Cheyenne City Planning website as "In Progress."

Do you think this remodel was long overdue, or do you think the existing design inside the Cheyenne CFA was good enough for now? Let us know your thoughts of the remodel in the comments!

Originally published on 06/16/2023 at 12:56 PM

Updated on 06/16/2023 at 9:35 PM to add a link to a KFBC article that mentions info about opening day.

Updated on 06/17/2023 at 8:11 PM to add newly discovered information about a parking lot exit slip lane and a drive thru escape lane. Also included further clarification on the permits' statuses.

Updated on 07/03/2023 at 5:11 PM to give a status update.

Updated on 11/21/2023 at 7:36 PM MT to give more detail on the original mall location.

Location: Cheyenne, WY, USA

Comments

Post a Comment
Get new posts by email:

follow.it Follow/Subscription feed is powered by follow.it.

Popular posts from this blog

Sprouts Farmers Market is coming to Cheyenne! First Wyoming location!

Image
Truck sits in front of Bed Bath and Beyond while construction work takes place inside - Optopolis Cheyenne is getting a new competitor in the grocery store market! Sprouts Farmers Market is in the process of setting up shop in the former Bed Bath and Beyond. The space has already been gutted! A glance at the Bed Bath and Beyond space If you've been following the journey here at Optopolis, you probably already know this story, so here's a quick run-down of the history of Bed Bath and Beyond as it relates to Cheyenne. Building built 2007 according to property assessor, part of the then-Cheyenne Marketplace Bed Bath and Beyond would be the original tenant of its space In the first week of February 2023, BB&B was silently announced to close Final day was on Apr 23, 2023, the same day BB&B filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Spirit Halloween set up shop for the 2023 season, opening in August and closing shortly after Halloween Spirit Halloween inside of Cheyenne's Bed Bath ...
Read more

Dutch Bros Coffee is coming to Cheyenne (for real)

Image
Dutch Bros Coffee sign on the North Lincoln Avenue location in Loveland, Colorado - Optopolis That's right, Dutch Bros Coffee is trying again, and it looks significantly more promising this time around! A Dutch Bros location is slated to be built along East Pershing Boulevard just west of the Pershing Marketplace. Previous events with Dutch Bros and Cheyenne Back in late 2021, site plans visible in the Cheyenne City Planning and Development website indicated the old Dell Range Rolando's Mexican Grill would be demolished and that Dutch Bros was planning to build a restaurant there. View of former Rolando's on Dell Range - Optopolis About a year later in late 2022, there was a "Building Permit Reimbursement" item added to one of the permits, requesting closure of the account and reimbursement of the building permit at the site of the former Fernando's. Not long after, the former Fernando's was put back on the market, and a temporary sign advertising the lo...
Read more

Old Chicago closes Cheyenne restaurant!

Image
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom sign illuminated after closing on the final day - Optopolis This was quite last minute, but it's true. Cheyenne's Old Chicago Pizza and Taproom permanently closed yesterday evening, at least an hour before their normal closing time of 10 PM on Sundays. A glance at the history of it According to Old Chicago's about page , Old Chicago dates back to its 1976 founding in Boulder, Colorado. They brag about their "tavern thin and classic thick crust pizzas" and their "110 local and legendary beers." Here at Optopolis, their pizza and broccoli-cheese soup (pictured below) were go-to items to eat in visits to the restaurant throughout the years. "I think this was the first place I ever tried the broccoli and cheddar soup," recalls Optopolis while recording a brief video clip. "I don't think I tried anywhere else before that, as far as I remember." The Laramie County Property assessor notes that Cheyenne...
Read more