Plainwell is another step closer to bringing an Ace Hardware to downtown.
City council members voted unanimously Monday, June 12, to approve a site plan for the hardware store to take over the former Harding’s building.
City manager Erik Wilson said, “We’re excited about it. The two big projects we’ve had is Harding’s and the mill and to soon be able to check the box off one of them is great.”
The city approved the site plan contingent on closing on the property, which it still owns, with Steve Tyre.
Wilson said Tyre was at the meeting and went over the project and why he chose Plainwell.
“He’s excited to get started,” Wilson said. “He likes what’s happening downtown.”
The property hasn’t actually changed hands yet as the bank that intends to lend funding for the project has asked for a second set of environmental tests.
Wilson said, “We did a phase one and it came back fine. But the bank for Ace wants phase two done.”
A test sample was scheduled to be taken Tuesday, June 13. Once the test results are in, assuming there are no concerns, Wilson said he expected it wouldn’t be long before Tyre got to work renovating the building.
“He’s chomping at the bit,” Wilson said.
Not just getting something into the vacant building (Harding’s moved to its current location on M-89 at the former Big Top 10 years ago) but getting a hardware store specifically is what the city was after. “We wanted specifically to recruit a hardware store to the downtown,” Wilson said. “It’s been a long time since there was one.”
The plan is for Ace to hire 10 people and use 14,000 of the 20,000 square foot building. That’s on the larger end of Ace Hardware locations and it will sell some outdoor recreation gear, including for fishing. Wilson said that was a bonus for the city.
Overall, he said the project was a big win for Plainwell.
“There’s a lot of talk about the mill, but having retail in the central business district is huge,” Wilson said. “Fostering redevelopment in small downtowns is tough.”
At the same meeting, city officials approved striping for the former Harding’s parking lot.
Contact Dan Pepper at dpepper@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534
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