Work on mall to start soon
Friday, October 15, 2010
By CAMERON KITTLE
The project to reinvent the Bedford Mall could break ground soon, changing a rundown, nearly empty mall into a shopping area powered by individual stores such as Kohl?s, Marshalls and Staples.
The building department is still processing building permit requests, but Bedford Planning Director Rick Sawyer said the town can expect to see demolition and construction begin on the South River Road site in two or three weeks.
The town approved the plan in August to demolish more than half of the current Bedford Mall and replace it with the larger retail stores.
Town Manager Russ Marcoux said work will begin to renovate the former Linens ?N Things location so Marshalls can move into that space, and then construction will start on a new building for Staples. Sawyer said Staples should be able to move in by springtime.
Demolition can start at the far end of the mall ? where Decathalon Sports was ? because those spots are all vacant, Marcoux said.
But Wayne Richardson, Bedford?s building code official, said a demolition permit had not been filed as of Tuesday, Oct. 12, which could cause a short delay.
The start of the process is cutting close to winter, but Sawyer said the workers should have an exterior structure built quickly so they can work indoors during the coldest months of the season.
?They have a time schedule to meet,? he said. ?They definitely will work all winter long.?
Sawyer said construction will begin on Kohl?s at the beginning of spring and should be ready by fall 2011. The store will be 90,646 square feet and sit near the north end of the new plaza.
The planning board has been working with the mall?s developer, Emmes Asset Management Co., since February 2009 to try and bring more customers to the mall. Business has been on the decline since stores began departing from the mall in recent years. Only eight of the 27 or 28 spaces for tenants are currently filled.
Sawyer said in August that the drastic development change is geared toward public demand. He said more residents want to be able to drive up to stores, buy what they want and leave, rather than wander around for hours inside a mall with small-scale stores.
The new project will satisfy those demands but also keep some of the mall?s interior hallways intact. There will be about 16 tenant spaces in the new plaza, according to the current site plans.