The Big Chicken is a KFC restaurant in Marietta, Georgia, which features a 56 ft steel-sided structure designed in the appearance of a chicken rising up from the top of the building. It is located at the intersection of Cobb Parkway (U.S. 41/Georgia 3) and Roswell Road (Georgia 120) and is a well-known landmark in the area.[1] Constructed in 1963, it was rebuilt following storm damage in 1993 and underwent a $2 million renovation project in 2017.
History
The restaurant was built in 1963 at 12 Cobb Parkway, on the newly constructed stretch of Highway 41, the first divided highway in Cobb County. Taking advantage of the prime location on the new and quicker route for travelers on U.S. 41, Johnny Reb's Chick, Chuck and Shake owner S. R. "Tubby" Davis erected the 56-foot (17-meter) tall structure over his restaurant in 1963 as a method of advertising.[2] The novelty architecture was designed by Hubert Puckett, a Georgia Tech student of architecture, and fabricated by Atlantic Steel in nearby Atlanta (of which Marietta is a suburb).