NORTH BEND — The last Big Mac will sizzle on Sunday. The last French fries will crunch. The last chocolate shake will gurgle through a straw.

Then the demolition crew will take over.

A community landmark since 1974, the McDonald’s on the corner of Broadway and Newmark Avenue is closing for good, to be replaced in four to six months by a shiny new set of golden arches.

Co-owner Rod Somerville said 21st-century features will replace the old restaurant’s 1970s look. The new restaurant will have a more streamlined exterior, energy-efficient appliances, and a high-tech, two-lane drive-through that will identify each customer’s car by type and color.

“It’s going to be lighter and brighter,” he said. “We’re going to beautify this corner tremendously.”

He said the owners looked at other properties but decided to build the new McDonald’s on the old site.

“This is one of the busiest corners in the county,” he said. “We’re positive about North Bend, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing it.”

The construction project will leave a void for the restaurant’s regular customers. Marcia Maki, who has worked there more than three years, said she knows a couple who met at the store years ago. Now married, they still eat there. Another man comes in twice a day, she said.

“He’s like a fixture there,” Maki said. “We’re on a first-name basis. They’re all interested in what’s going to happen.”

On Wednesday afternoon, customers had mixed feelings about the closure.

“Oh, no!” said Lorelei Glatt of Coos Bay, who had come in with Jake Baumgardner. Baumgardner was likewise dismayed — but only for a moment.”

“That’s going to be cool having a new McDonald’s,” he said.

One feature the new restaurant will lack for now is a playground.

“We’ve made it so if we want to add it on to the building, we can,” Somerville said.

The new McDonald’s also won’t have a basement, which has been an inconvenience for employees who have to run down the stairs for supplies.

“We’re looking forward to it because it’s going to be less work for everybody,” he said.

The construction project will remove several trees, uniting the adjacent Newmark and Circle H Broadway plazas.

“It’s going to be grand when it’s finished,” said Gary Rifkin, owner of Fiddlesticks gift store and the Newmark Plaza property.

The plazas’ 22 businesses are collaborating on marketing and advertising, Rifkin said.

Starting Monday, the restaurant’s fixtures will be removed. Demolition will begin the next week.

Most of the metal and plastic will be recycled, Somerville said. The trash cans are being donated to North Bend Parks and Recreation. Several of the fixtures are being given to customers who have asked for them.

Baumgart Construction of Rockaway is doing the work.

“We try to use local subcontractors as much as possible,” Somerville said.

Construction will cost more than $1 million, to be split 70-30 between the local franchise and the corporation.

Somerville and his son, Scott, also own four other South Coast McDonald’s. They moved to Coos Bay three years ago from New Orleans, where they owned four McDonald’s.

“We like the climate here better,” said the elder Somerville. “The climate and the people.”

During construction, some of the 30-plus employees will transfer to other local McDonald’s locations, while others take some time off, according to Manager Brian Elston.

Elston himself will spend the interim as assistant manager of the downtown Coos Bay McDonald’s. All the employees will have jobs waiting when the new restaurant opens, he said.

“We’ll certainly bring back everybody who’s available,” Elston said. “We’re looking to almost double my crew at the beginning. With a new store opening, business increases in the first four to six months.”