In the Chicago suburb of Des Plaines sits McDonald’s Store No. 1 Museum. But it may not be sitting there much longer. McDonald’s has announced plans to tear down the building in December of 2017.
Ray Kroc built the original McDonald’s in Des Plaines in 1955, after franchising the brand from Richard and Maurice McDonald, owners of a restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
Thousands of tourists had flocked to the McDonald’s Museum over the years, but repeated flooding led to the closure of interior access in 2008. Tourists could still peek into the windows, but visitor numbers have declined since tourists could no longer go inside the building.
“We have decided to permanently close the replica of McDonald’s first franchised restaurant and hope to donate the land to the City of Des Plaines,” McDonald’s said in a statement. “The re-created restaurant…has not regularly welcomed visitors since closing the the public 10 years ago. This combined with the building’s location and the feasibility to reopen and maintain it led us to this decision.”
But all hope is not lost for the McDonald’s Museum. The Volo Auto Museum in nearby Volo has reached out to McDonald’s Corporation to try and relocate the museum to its facility.
“We have been contacted by numerous residents about the closing and demolition of the Des Plaines McDonald’s museum with pleas to save it and relocate it in Volo,” the Volo Auto Museum said in a Facebook post that has since been shared almost 2,000 times. We love the idea! We’ve reached out to McDonald’s headquarters hoping there is an agreement that could be made.”
Brian Grams, director of the Volo Auto Museum, said that his goal is to relocate and restore the entire building. “Our interest is in preserving this American icon,” he said. “If, for some reason, it does not work out that we can move the entire structure, we certainly hope to come away with some artifacts. But the goal is the whole thing.”
Photo: The sign in front of the McDonald’s Museum in Des Plaines, Illinois. Credit: Dawid S Swierczek / Shutterstock.com