Where is the outrage? Where are the protests?

A historical building in Lewiston is being torn down!

OK, we’re joking. But one of the city’s notable sites is slated for demolition: McDonald’s on Lisbon Street, near Exit 80 of the Maine Turnpike. This fast-food restaurant is also a historical landmark.

It is McDonald’s No. 810, the third in Maine when built in 1966. Today, golden arches are across more than 32,000 sites, giving Lewiston the notoriety of having a low-number Mickey D’s.

Given hand-wringing over other historical L-A buildings – like Bates Mill No. 5 – it would be unfair to let McDonald’s No. 810 pass into history without recognizing its legacy.

One could argue the arrival of McDonald’s signified a changing future. It came at peak Turnpike years, when promise from the highway system seemed ready to redefine the economy.

Its construction in 1966 coincided with exploding traffic counts on the turnpike, which had expanded through Lewiston 10 years prior. A hamburger cost 15 cents.

Now, it’s understood that shortsighted placement of exits circumvented downtown L-A to its detriment, and spiraling gasoline prices are causing turnpike traffic to decline. Hamburgers cost about $1.

McDonald’s is changing too. Criticism about fast-food fare has prompted it, and others, to renovate their menus, restaurants and images. Super-sizing has been replaced by salads.

The new McDonald’s restaurant slated to be built would be unrecognizable to the 1966 hamburger aficionado. A bistro look, double-barreled drive-through and brick faade are on the drawing board.

“We’re trying to attract a new customer base by showing this contemporary service and that we’re changing with the times,” the restaurant’s local owner, David Hamilton, says.

We wish him luck. But we’ll also miss the old Mickey Ds. It had its time, but its time passed, yet its long tenure will be remembered for its period of significance and impact upon the community.

If this isn’t the definition of a historic building, we don’t know what is.