It's been more than three and a half months at a cost of more than $2.5 million - now, massive renovations are complete at the iconic KFC restaurant along Cobb Parkway. A grand re-open ribbon cutting is set for Thursday at 10 a.m.

"We built the first-ever Big Chicken mascot which will be out front greeting people and there to take photos with people. There'll be a Colonel Harland Sanders impersonator there which is always fun," says Mike Kulp, CEO of KBP Investments, which owns the Big Chicken and 60 other KFC stores in metro Atlanta.

Kulp says it's been a long but satisfying process to get here, since the location was closed in late January for renovations.

"There wasn't an area that wasn't touched with the exception of the structure around the Chicken itself which actually was pretty major-ly overhauled from just a cosmetic perspective," says Kulp.

The Big Chicken's full makeover included a fresh paint job to mechanical upgrades. And now it has its own 16-foot, weathered-wood sign to welcome customers, sitting alongside the road.

But it's the store structure itself - outside and inside - that's now completely different.

"We ripped it down to the cinder block through most of the lobby," says Kulp. “In the kitchen, we completely gutted the entire kitchen. All the way down to mechanical and electrical and re-did a lot of that.

“All new equipment in the back of the house...brought in a lot of cutting-edge equipment from all around the world that's being tested in a lot of the KFC's in Europe and other parts of the world using some unique and proprietary equipment."

One of those items is a new craft soda station which another company official says is the first of its kind to be installed in any fast-food establishment.

The store inside includes new light fixtures, custom-wood walls, floors and ceilings. There are replicas of KFC's Col. Sanders and the Big Chicken inside to welcome customers.

At the counter, there's a see-through window to the kitchen, where Kulp says you'll be able to watch cooks in special Big Chicken embroidered jackets and hats. And for customers, an expanded merchandise section with collectible items, including many specific to this re-opening weekend.

Kulp says Thursday's grand re-opening will bring city and company officials together to welcome an old friend back to the city.

"It's a...pretty unique facility from front to back."