Dairy Queen in Fayette has officially re-opened. The restaurant closed in July of last year after numerous management and facility issues and has since undergone a half-million-dollar renovation inside and out.

DQ re-opened at 10 a.m. Friday morning with new management. New Fayette General Manager Marj Wilguess will lead a staff of 20 employees, 19 of whom are new to the Fayette DQ.

“We are so excited,” said district manager Linda Greathouse on Friday. “We want this to be a completely new experience for this town.”

When DQ shut down last summer, the restaurant was in terrible condition. One of the three partners who own the Fayette location, Hiren Patel, told this newspaper in July that he tried to fix things when the restaurant was open, but it was in far too much of a state of disrepair. “It was in such bad shape that even when we would try to fix it, something else would break down,” he said at the time of the closure.

Hiren and partners Ashok Patel and Bobby Patel purchased the Fayette Dairy Queen in April of last year. It was open for less than three months before it had to be closed.

Hiren said in July he hoped renovations would be completed by October, but it took much longer to bring in new equipment. And the restaurant doesn’t just have new equipment; it has been completely remodeled and modernized inside and out. New fixtures, flooring, and signage will all greet customers as they eagerly return.

The Fayette Dairy Queen now sports the most modern of the franchise’s designs, which so far is only in a few stores across the country.

“We totally turned this thing around,” Hiren said on Friday. “We wanted to give it a modern look. Nothing traditional like Dairy Queen has. This is the brand-new version.”

The Fayette DQ is still awaiting some equipment but is otherwise fully functional. Greathouse said that speedy service, particularly in the drive-thru, is paramount for getting the restaurant back on track. She also said that the Fayette DQ will add breakfast to its menu sometime in the summer.

“We’re going to have a brand-new start,” Hiren said. “What happened was unfortunate. We didn’t have the right people, and the facility was a dump. It was kind of like a nightmare to us.”

The Patels own 10 Dairy Queens, most of which are in the St. Louis and Springfield areas. A new business license was approved on Tuesday night by the Fayette city council.

“A nicer environment brings the mood up and gives a nicer retention,” Ashok said.

Dairy Queen is still waiting on an additional ice cream machine for its famous soft serve and additional signage for the lobby. DQ will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., closed only on Thanksgiving and Christmas.