It really is safe for all of us to get out our bibs, our paper crowns, our mobile thrones and all the other accoutrements required for a proper trip to Burger King. The Burger King on Sixth Street is going to reopen. Really.

There have been a few false starts and false hopes when it comes to the reopening of the Burger King at 1107 W. Sixth St., which has been closed since August 2013 because of a fire on the roof. Burger King officials previously had told me they expected the store to open sometime in April. But that date came and went, and I began to feel a tad silly arriving at the empty restaurant each morning in my crushed velvet bathrobe and scepter. And my son certainly was getting tired of wearing the jester’s outfit.

But Burger King officials now tell me they have everything they need to begin the project, and hiring for the store has begun. I’m more confident than I have been that the store is indeed on the path to reopening because City Hall officials have confirmed they’ve issued the project a building permit. There also appears to be work crews at the site.

“We have the building permit, and we’re ready to start throwing hammers and stuff,” said Lance Zach, regional manager for Burger King.

Zach said he hopes to have the store reopened by the end of October. I’m not sure I would write that date in stone just yet because there is a significant amount of remodeling that will be done at the site. Zach said the store will end up looking a lot more like the modern Burger King that is near Sixth and Wakarusa. The inside also will have a more modern look, with a lot more emphasis on areas for people to use their wireless devices while they dine. (That is good because the King needs to be in constant communication to deal with important matters in the realm, such as his kingdom’s fantasy football team.)

As for why the project has taken so long, I’m not entirely sure. Zach said he wasn’t either but is just happy to be moving forward. My understanding is that it may have taken the restaurant longer than anticipated to get its insurance check after the fire, and then the building permit process has taken quite a bit longer. City officials confirmed they received the application in March. There are always two sides to these types of stories about delays from City Hall. The city really doesn’t have a motive to unnecessarily delay a project, and sometimes projects are more complicated than property owners envision. For example, this property was old enough that I think it has to make some changes to its parking lot, and that type of work triggers a review from the Kansas Department of Transportation to review the property’s entrance onto Sixth Street, which also is U.S. Highway 40.

Regardless, the project is on the move, and Zach said the company is conducting interviews for restaurant positions each Wednesday. Zach said he plans to hire six to seven managers for the location, and a crew of about 40 people. Interviews are taking place at Burger King’s other two Lawrence locations, which are near Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive and in North Lawrence. Look for information on the interview process at the stores.

“We’re comfortable with where we’re headed with this now,” Zach said. “I’m glad because I couldn’t walk through this town without somebody asking me about it.”

In other news and notes from around town:

• City officials also have confirmed they’ve issued a building permit for the Menards home improvement center near 31st and Iowa streets. I don’t have word from Menards officials about when the store may open, but they previously have said construction should take nine to 10 months. Depending on how much the winter slows them down, I would say it is a good bet that the store will be open by the time the 2015 holiday shopping season rolls around.

It will be interesting to watch the project come out of the ground. It also will be interesting to watch whether Menards’ neighbor, Home Depot, makes any effort to expand its store. As construction begins at Menards, it will become obvious how much bigger Menards will be than the Home Depot store. According to documents filed at City Hall, Menards will have about 250,000 square feet of space under the roof. Home Depot has about 94,000 square feet. In addition, Menards will have an outdoor lumber yard that is about 150,000 square feet. If you remember, Home Depot wanted a larger store, but was unable to win approval from the City Commission in the early 2000s for the project.

• There is news — or at least questions — about one other large project in town. It is still not clear when or if work will begin on a major apartment/retail building planned for a site across the street from KU’s Memorial Stadium.

At Tuesday evening’s meeting, city commissioners delayed taking action on a requested parking variance for a proposed multi-story building that will have about 240 apartments with a total of about 625 bedrooms. The developers want to reduce the required parking for the project by 100 spaces, which would leave the project with fewer parking spaces than there are bedrooms in the project. Commissioners said they wanted more information, such as how many students bring cars to campus, before they act on the request.

But what did become clear at Tuesday’s meeting is that the Chicago-based development group proposing the project doesn’t have the financing in place to build it.

“We have had several capital sources tell us they are not interested,” said Jim Heffernan, a manager with HERE Kansas LLC.

The project already has received from city commissioners — on a 3-2 vote — a 10-year, 85 percent property tax rebate. But Heffernan told commissioners that even with that incentive, the city’s parking requirements have made it difficult for the project to pencil out from a financial perspective.

Heffernan didn’t directly say whether the project would be discontinued if the parking exemption isn’t granted, but it is becoming clear that the project is still in a pretty speculative stage.

• One other last note: Mark your calendars for Thursday evening, if you are interested in the police headquarters issue. The city will host a forum from 7 to 8 p.m. at the police’s Investigations and Training Center at 4820 Bob Billings Parkway. A second forum sponsored by the city will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 16, also at the Investigations and Training Center.

Also worth putting on your calendar is an event to be hosted by the Voter Education Coalition. The group plans to hold a forum from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 14 at the Lawrence Public Library. My understanding is that forum will have representatives from both the advocacy group and opposition group that have formed around this issue. The two forums hosted by the city mainly will feature the chief of police and city commissioners.