New White Castle to open in December

By December, White Castle once again will be serving up its famous sliders in Cape Girardeau.

Craig G. Eilers, the engineering project manager at White Castle Management Co., said via email Tuesday that the company is on a four-month construction timeline, and as long as everything goes as scheduled, White Castle will be open again in time for Christmas.

"We decided to reinvest in the community and replace the damaged building with a new prototypical building," Eilers said. "The new building will be approximately 2,800 square feet with 50 seats in the dining room."

The old structure at 102 Siemers Drive had been closed since May because of a fire that started in the kitchen. The fire-damaged structure was leveled Aug. 13 to make way for a much smaller restaurant that will reflect the classic White Castle design.

The original building began as a Hardee's, was converted to a Lion's Choice and then became a White Castle in 2005.