BELFAST - What’s being built next to Dunkin Donuts on Starrett Drive?

It’s sort of a trick question. 

Over the past month, the construction site between the coffee-and-donut franchise and VIP/O’Reilly Auto Parts has gone from a hole in the ground to a tidy, compact foundation sprouting utility feeds.

When all is said and done, there will be a new, larger Dunkin Donuts. Plans reviewed by the Planning Board in June call for demolition of the old building and construction of the new one. Though as any coffee drinker would attest, not in that order. 

City Planner Wayne Marshall said the review was fairly straightforward. He noted that the new location will allow more cars to line up at the drive-thru, where today the queue is sometimes backed up onto Starrett Drive.

“That will be the most noticeable change people will see,” he said. “That and the new building.”

Both new and old sit on a parcel of land owned by Thomas Auger of Wales, son of VIP Discount Auto Parts founder Thomas O. Auger. The property runs the length of Starrett Drive on the west side of the roadway and includes VIP/O’Reilly Auto Parts, Dunkin Donuts and the strip mall known variously as Belfast Marketplace and Little River Center, that is home to Sherwin Williams, Aunt Judy’s Uniforms, Bell the Cat, and others.

Given construction schedules, Marshall said the new building would probably open this fall. A worker at Dunkin Donuts reported being told something on the order of six weeks. The franchisee could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Contact Ethan Andrews at news@penbaypilot.com