A familiar spot will soon be getting a new look as well as a new name.

The Dairy Queen on Route 1, a landmark in Woolwich, is scheduled for some major renovations; its first renovations in something like 25 years.

“It’s a full remodeling inside and out,” owner Richard Ranta of Alna told the Wiscasset Newspaper Tuesday morning. He said plans for the renovations have been in the works for months, adding he’d only gotten the go ahead from town officials last week.

The small takeout restaurant near the Sagadahoc Bridge will get a makeover inside and out. The thing people will notice most will be a new brick façade surrounding the entrance. The shape of the building is going to be different too. The familiar gambrel roof will be altered to accommodate the new look. The exterior will still be trimmed in red and beige, but have a new sign and new name, “DQ Grill & Chill.” The restaurant’s menu will remain the same.

Ranta said the alterations include attaching a new 8 by 8-foot walk-in cooler at the rear of the building on the side opposite Route 1. Plans also call for two new ice cream machines along with a new cake freezer.

“I’m hoping to do something with the counter area as well. The idea being to provide even more ease and speed for our customers, although we’re pretty fast already,” added Ranta.

Figuring out how to incorporate all the changes has been a challenge, he said. The business, surrounded as it is by three roads, leaves little room to spare.

ALPHAarchitects of Portland is doing the design work in accordance with Dairy Queen’s specifications. If all goes as planned, Ranta said he’ll close after Columbus Day, a month or so earlier than usual.

“Hopefully we’ll get most of the outdoor work done before the snow flies,” he said. The restaurant will reopen sometime after the first of the year.

Ranta noted his is one of only three of Maine’s 32 Dairy Queens that’s getting a makeover. The others sporting the new DQ look are located in Kittery and Westbrook.

The closest Dairy Queen to Ranta’s is the one in Topsham, famous for having once served President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s. In the 30 years the Ranta family has owned the Woolwich Dairy Queen, they’ve never served a U.S. president, but Sen. Angus King has visited many times. Over the years they’ve also served folksinger James Taylor and “Cheers” actress Kirstie Alley.

Ranta resides with his wife Deb and their children in Alna. He worked at the Dairy Queen for a number of years before he purchased the business in 2002 from his mother Anna Ranta. Anna Ranta owned and operated the restaurant for 17 years.

The business originally started as an ice cream stand. It became a Dairy Queen franchise in 1972.