Jul 15, 2016 2 min read

The Dunkin’ Donuts footprint in Washington County is on the verge of expansion.

Walls on the Peters Township location are going up at 3528 Washington Road, site of the aged Eat’n Park restaurant that was razed this spring and supplanted by a new Eat’n Park a quarter-mile north on Route 19. Dunkin’ Donuts is targeted to open in early to mid-September, said Mike Zappone, marketing manager for Heartland Restaurant Group, franchisee for Dunkin’ in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

“It’s too early to determine a specific date,” he said.

In the meantime, site preparation began recently for a Dunkin’ restaurant at Murtland Avenue and Raymond Boulevard. It will be in South Strabane Township, slightly downhill from the Washington city line. Zappone did not have an estimated time of arrival for that site, near AAA Travel Agency.

South Strabane officials rejected that project last winter before approving it in the spring.

Another new Dunkin’ is planned for the Street at the Meadows project, off Racetrack Road in North Strabane Township. Construction is underway there, said Nate Tovornik, spokesman for Horizon Properties, developer of the Street project.

All of this is part of a corporate comeback in the county.

Washington County was once home to the Dunkin’ Donuts brand, but those locations closed and none opened for several years. On May 4, 2015, Heartland opened a shop in Canonsburg on Cavasina Drive. Within 18 months or so, the county could have three more.

The Peters restaurant will be next. It will be the 40th Dunkin’ that Heartland launched in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and 48th in its territory, with runs from New Castle south to Morgantown, W.Va., and from Weirton, W.Va., east to Indiana.

Being No. 40 in this end of the commonwealth, Zappone said, is a milestone that probably will merit a large celebration during the opening. He said the Peters location will be “pretty good size,” similar to one that opened a month ago on McMurray Road in Upper St. Clair.

Zappone said Heartland, for now, doesn’t have another Dunkin’ “in the pipeline” for Washington County, “but that doesn’t mean we’re not looking at other spots.”