Cobb County's 'Big Chicken' set to reopen this week

MARIETTA, Ga. — It has been closed down for the past 12 weeks, but “The Big Chicken” in Marietta is set to reopen Thursday.

The Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that sits along Cobb Parkway has been under renovation.

The restaurant is getting some updates, including a new patio and separate screened-in porch, both of which will total about 55 extra seats.

The Big Chicken sign has also been touched up. The 56-foot-tall chicken was erected in 1963. In 1974, KFC took over and considered tearing down the bird structure after high winds damaged it in 1993. But the people squawked and convinced the the fast-food chain to repair instead of it tear down.

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The project is part of an overhaul of all KFC locations the company owns in metro Atlanta, and it has done about 50 so far, said Mike Kulp, CEO of KBP Investments, which owns The Big Chicken and 60 other Kentucky Fried Chicken locations in metro Atlanta.

Kulp said the space hasn’t spread its wings in 20 years and was “an image we felt was a little tired.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this article.

Cox Media Group