LEWISTON – The fourth Tim Hortons restaurant in the L-A area should be open for business by year-end.
A vacant lot at the corner of Sabattus and Stanley streets will be the newest address for the Canadian-based restaurant chain. Plans call for a 3,000-square-foot restaurant with a drive-through service window and seating for 50. The restaurant, like the other Tim Hortons sites, will be open 24 hours a day.
“We’re looking forward to a very bright future in your market,” said Meagen Lewandowski, spokeswoman for the chain. The first local Tim Hortons came to Lisbon Street in 2001. Since then, a restaurant on Minot Avenue in Auburn opened, and another on Center Street is under way.
Lewandowski said Tim Hortons identifies growing, vibrant communities, then tries to open multiple restaurants. Last year, the company went to Erie, Pa., and opened four restaurants within a year.
“It’s a matter of service and convenience to our customers,” she said.
Traffic concerns were raised as the plans made their way through City Hall channels. To mitigate any traffic snarls, the restaurant will have an access driveway off Stanley Street, but an exit-only, right-turn-only driveway on Sabattus Street. It will also have a stacking capacity of 13 cars in its drive-through area.
The projected cost for the new restaurant is $1 million, according to the engineering study submitted to city planners. It will look like the other Tim Hortons on the exterior, but Lewandowski said the interior will be different.
The seats and tables will be movable – rather than bolted in place – and there will be a showcase in the front of the store displaying all its fresh-baked produce.
“We expect it will be enticing,” said Lewandowski.
The chain started in 1964 as a coffee and doughnut shop in Hamilton, Ontario, taking on Tim Horton – a legendary Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman in the National Hockey League – as a partner in 1967.
It offers a full range of baked goods, as well as sandwiches, soups, coffee and specialty drinks.
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