Atwood Chevrolet will expand its North Frontage Road dealership into the former Krystal fast food restaurant property next door, the longtime Vicksburg auto dealer’s vice president said.

Cars and trucks in General Motors’ certified used vehicle program will be spread on the roughly 6,500 square feet of space that was occupied by the popular eatery before it closed in 2007, Emmett Atwood said. The purchase was completed in July and filed in land records last week.

Expanding the dealership will mean eventually tearing down the restaurant building itself, Atwood said.

Krystal’s local franchise opened in 1994 and was operated by Smith Food Enterprises Inc., which had sold the property to real estate agent Ernest Thomas earlier this summer. A Dixie Diner eatery operated in the spot for a brief time after Krystal closed.