Local KFC restaurant to be demolished, rebuilt after nearly 50 years

This KFC at 4023 W. Third St. in Dayton will reopen after a demolish-rebuild project. MARK FISHER/STAFF

This KFC at 4023 W. Third St. in Dayton will reopen after a demolish-rebuild project. MARK FISHER/STAFF
What to Know
By Mark Fisher
Jan 27, 2017
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A West Dayton chicken restaurant that has operated for nearly 50 years has shut down and will be demolished, then rebuilt and reopened on the same site this spring.

The KFC restaurant at 4023 W. Third St. at Gettysburg Avenue — which its franchise owner and a customer both estimated has been operating since the late 1960s or early 1970s — shut down earlier this month, and will soon meet the wrecking ball, according to Matt Saunders, director of development for RGT Management, the Cincinnati-based franchisee for Dayton-area KFC restaurants.

RELATED: KFC shuts down Butler County restaurant

In its place, spring, will come a new KFC, with a seating capacity of as many as 30 or more — triple the amount of seating the existing restaurant offers, Saunders said. The projected construction schedule calls for the restaurant to reopen sometime between mid-April to late May, depending on weather conditions and other factors, he said.

The new store will be similar in appearance, although slightly smaller because of the lot size, to a new prototype KFC that opened on Springboro Pike in 2014, Saunders said.

RELATED: KFC opens new prototype store on Ohio 741

The project has been on the drawing board for nearly three years, and is not the result of any recent changes in the market, Saunders said. Just last month, two Church's Chicken locations in the western half of Dayton — including one on West Third Street — shut down, with no plans to reopen, while three other Church's locations remain open and operating, including two on Gettysburg Avenue.

RELATED: Church’s Chicken closes 2 Dayton restaurants; 3 remain open

“It’s a good store for us, in a great location,” Saunders said. “We want to continue to serve the customers in that neighborhood.”

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About the Author

Mark Fisher, a 1981 graduate of Ohio State University and a 1976 graduate of Beavercreek High School, is a third-generation Dayton-area resident who has worked for the Dayton Daily News since 1983. He covered higher education and K-12 education accountability issues for nearly 20 years before taking over the food and dining beat in 2006.