666 Conversion w/ Extended Counter Front (Panel Conversion) [McDonald’s Blueprints]

Custom plans to keep customers warm at a historic McDonald’s in Skokie, IL.

This detailed set of architectural plans was compiled by the Chicago-based McDonald’s System, Inc. in 1966. The drawings outline a sophisticated construction proposal for a custom winter enclosure at the franchise located at 4830 Dempster St. in Skokie, Illinois, a site in operation since 1956. The plans detail the addition of glass panels, service windows, and specialized seating designed to wrap around the building’s iconic Golden Arches (noted in the lower center outline), protecting patrons from the harsh Illinois climate.

Such modifications were a structural necessity as the “walk-up” model, born in Southern California, expanded into the American Midwest. An affixed Speed Letter (upper right) from Gertrude Jaffe of the McDonald’s Corporation to architect Armand Donian references Dick Picchietti, a pivotal contractor in the physical realization of Ray Kroc’s burgeoning empire.