Sonic drive-in contractor gets $1.2M building permit
Work on construction of the building to house Clinton’s new sonic drive-in restaurant should begin soon, as the contractor has received a building permit from the city of Clinton.
Rafferty Construction, Inc., of Franklin, Indiana, got the permit for a new $1.2 million structure on Oct. 14.
The 1,287-square-foot building and outlying structures are being built at 2210 N. Charles G. Seivers Blvd.
In September, the Sonic developers began site preparation for the new restaurant, including grading and foundation work, after receiving a grading permit from the city of Clinton on Sept. 14 for that work.
Sonic will occupy a separate building just east of the Buddy’s bar-b-q in the Sinking Springs II development near Interstate 75, Exit 122. It will include a drive-through window as well as Sonic’s signature carhop curb service under separate awnings, according to plans.
The Buddy’s building went up first, and Buddy’s opened last December. Since then, Tennova has opened a primary-care medical clinic in the same building, and there is also a new Farm Bureau Insurance office there, which opened Sept. 1.
To the west of the Buddy’s building, a new structure is going up to house a Starbucks coffee shop and SP’s Wine & Liquor, which will be the first package store to open in Clinton. City voters approved package stores in a referendum last November.
Sinking Springs development principal Andy Hillmer with Southern Commercial real estate in Knoxville said in February that he had signed a lease with the Sonic operator, and that he expected construction to begin in April or May. No reason has been given for the delay.
A woman answering the telephone at Rafferty Construction on Monday declined to give any information about the project, referring The Courier News instead to the Sonic franchisee, whom she would not identify because of “business confidentiality” concerns.
No completion or projected opening date has been announced.