FRANKLIN—If winter was a setback to building the Love’s Travel Stop and Bojangles restaurant, you couldn’t tell by the rate of progress made in construction over the past few months on South Street near the Highway 58 bypass.

Nearly every day workers from W.H. Bass Inc., General Contractors, can be seen on site. Everything’s on schedule according to Amanda Jarratt, president and CEO of Franklin-Southampton Economic Development Inc. Another person who can testify to the progress is Jim Whitehead, one of the partners in the restaurant franchise.

“The openings for Bojangles and Loves are projected for [Thursday,] Aug. 14,” he stated in an email reply to questions. “With the tile complete we are scheduled for kitchen equipment, complete walls inside with wall paper and paint, Pepsi equipment, etc. The metal building to the right near the exit is Love’s tire shop.”

Whitehead is partnered with Charlie Parker in Bojangles, PW Foods LLC, and the Franklin site will be their third with the other two in Farmville and Emporia. They’re also co-owners of Southern Virginia Foods LLC, which bought the Huddle House diners. Ashley Whitehead is the operations manager for the site in Franklin, Emporia and Bracey. The local site has been renovated in keeping with a company-wide upgrade.

For people still interested in working at the newest Bojangles, there’s still time to apply.

“The job fairs have gone well,” said Jim Whitehead, “but we are still looking to complete our Bojangles Team. They can go to www.bojangles.com to apply.”

Once the restaurant opens, the hours of operation will be from 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. he added.

Whitehead also encourages people to follow the construction progress on Facebook for construction update and photos.