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Complete renovation on Arby's new menu
(by Sue Reid - June 23, 2010)
Complete renovation on Arby's new menu
By SUE REID
The Arby's restaurant, which opened in Solon in 1979, may be getting a whole new appearance.
Solon's planning commission approved a site plan review for facade renovations and certain modifications to the Arby's restaurant at 6375 SOM Center Road (Route 91). City Council gave its approval Monday.
Paul Quinn, vice president of construction for the Arby's Restaurant Group Inc., told the commission last week that the Solon Arby's is one of 25 stores in the Cleveland and Akron area that will undergo a complete remodel inside and out.
Mr. Quinn said changes will be made to the texture and colors of the building. The colors of the restaurant, including the Arby's signature red, are being changed to more muted colors and more earth tones, Mr. Quinn said. The toning down of the building colors was to meet the requirements of the city so it would not be light and bright, Mr. Quinn said.
The fact that the building will be lit is the most controversial aspect of the project, City Planning Director Robert S. Frankland told council members. He said that is why he asked that the project be reviewed by Fred Marguiles, one of the city's architects.
"They requested we use a brick veneer to give it the masonry appearance on the new construction renovation," Mr. Quinn said of the changes. Work sessions were held with the city's administration and Arby's staff on this project.
Also, Mr. Quinn said, Arby's is proposing to remove the existing glass atrium that is located along the front and north side of the building, and then to fill this area with landscaping. Contingent on the commission's approval of the site plan, a landscape plan must be submitted to the city's landscape architect.
Also, along with the remodeling of the building, Mr. Quinn said that signs will be updated, including the Arby's logo on the front of the building and both side elevations.
Commission member George K. Hrabak said he would be in favor of a more "cleaner, elegant" look in terms of colors than the ones proposed. "There was just a lot of color there, especially in the center portion of the peak of the front elevation," Mr. Hrabak said. "My concern was 'how bright is that going to be in the nighttime hours?'" Mr. Hrabak said that there a lot of things happening in that area of SOM Center Road, including two restaurants across the street, as well as something possibly going in on the corner where the Sunoco gas station is.
"We don't want the Las Vegas strip," Mr. Hrabak said.
"This is a brand new design for Arby's," Mr. Quinn said. "This is where we are going and where the industry is going for the newness."
The facade changes are intended to provide a relatively low-cost retrofit of the existing building in order to implement Arby's current corporate design standards for structures of this type and age, city Planning Director Robert S. Frankland told the commission.
"It is a major improvement over what exists now," commission member William M. Mazur said.
Councilwoman Toni M. Richmond also said that she thinks the proposed changes are a "great improvement" to what is there. She said that Arby's worked with the city in coming up with colors that were more "toned down."
Mr. Quinn said work will begin in August should the company gain council approval June 21.
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