For months it's been the most talked about project in Altona, and over the past couple weeks the new Tim Hortons on Centre Avenue has started to take shape. Franchisee Rupesh Patel is looking forward to opening the restaurant, noting he has several other rural Tim's locations.

"We have some rural locations in Swan River, Thompson and Morris," he said while reflecting on why he has stuck with small-town Manitoba. "The overall vibes, very friendly people, very different than the cities. Smaller communities are nicer and way friendlier, and way easier to run."

At this point, Patel is looking at opening the restaurant at the end of January, unless there is a major delay which he is not expecting at this time.

"The weather has helped us a lot," he noted pointing to the considerable amount of work done since construction started earlier this Fall. "Paving the parking lot, putting the concrete floor and sidewalks and everything else in, because of the really nice and extended weather."

Patel expects to hire about thirty people for the Altona location.

"We'll need about 30 to 35 team members," he said. "There are some that have already been hired, and they are getting trained at our store in Morris. Once we open, we'll start to look at hiring more team members."

He also shared how much they are looking forward to getting involved in the community pointing to the well known Tim Bits Soccer and Hockey programs, and fundraisers like the Smile Cookie Campaign which supports local non-profit organizations.

- With files from Candace Derksen -

The construction site along Centre AvenueThe construction site along Centre Avenue

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