It’s official. Longhorn Steakhouse is coming to Douglas. And it’s opening in October.
City, county, and school board officials approved the various intergovernmental agreements Thursday night at the quarterly joint meeting between the three governing boards. The restaurant will be located on the site of the current board of education’s central office, which fronts South Peterson Avenue between Chik-fil-A and Tidal Wave Car Wash.
Things are going to move in a hurry. School system personnel are already moving their offices out of the building. Some will go to the old SunTrust Bank building a few blocks north while others will move into the Ashley-Slater House. A few central office staff will have offices in schools throughout the system.
The school system will eventually build a new central office at an as-yet undetermined location.
The school system has 30 days to be out of the building. Then the process of tearing down the central office and building the new Longhorn will begin.
Ever since officials announced the Douglas Square shopping center before the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens have been very vocal on the various social media platforms regarding their interest in seeing a national chain steakhouse come to town. For well over a year, there has been a great deal of speculation about Longhorn and several different sites have surfaced throughout the rumor mill. It seemed as though any time land was cleared anywhere in the city, people attached Longhorn to it. The project has actually been in the works for quite some time and the location Longhorn wanted has always been the corner where the board of education sits.
Now there is no more speculation. It’s official – Longhorn is coming. And more will likely follow.