Thursday, May 11, 2023–6:22 a.m.
-Adam Carey, Rome News-Tribune-
Construction has officially begun at The Varsity’s newest location in Rome on Spider Webb Drive, on the former Dairy Queen site in Five Points.
A construction permit was recently issued with a $1.5 million construction value to Cobb V Realty LLC of Kennesaw by the Rome-Floyd Building Inspection Department.
“We’re all very excited to see this project completed,” said Toles, Temple, and Wright Real Estate’s Bill Temple. “And we’re very happy that The Varsity chose Rome.”
Personnel on-site explained that they would clear the site down to the dirt. A surveyor would soon be following to lay out the new restaurant and things would get very busy after that, they said.
The chain is currently finishing up another site located in Bethlehem.
The Spider Webb Drive location was sold in the winter of 2021 for $1 million, brokered by Toles, Temple, and Wright Real Estate. The Dairy Queen restaurant shuttered soon after that, and demolition was completed in July 2022.
The original plans called for:
- A 4,448-square-foot restaurant with outside seating.
- The entrance to the parking lot is on Spider Webb Drive with the exit on East First Street, similar to what Dairy Queen had.
- Two lanes of traffic will circle the restaurant; one for the drive-through and the second a bypass.
The Gordy family opened the first Varsity in 1928. There have been plenty of changes in recent years, including the closing of the Athens location with two new restaurants on the way — one on Parkway Boulevard in Athens and another in Bethlehem. Framing is now up in that location. The nearest location to Rome is in Kennesaw.