A Bridgewater man is seeking a special zoning permit from the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) to convert an existing one-story building from its current office space use into a dance studio and one residential apartment.

Applicant Paul Russo wants to convert a building at 6 Mile Hill Road into the dance studio/apartment. The 5,600-square-foot structure, which was built in 1959, is on a 0.46-acre lot on the western corner of Mile Hill Road and Tinkerfield Road. In the past, the structure was used for bowling lanes. The Taunton Press Inc currently owns the property.

The redevelopment application states that the 5,600-square-foot gross-floor-area structure would be converted into a 4,300-square-foot dance studio and a 1,300-square-foot apartment by making renovations within the building.

Access to the site is provided at Tinkerfield Road. Twenty-one parking spaces would serve the property. The site is in a BPO (Business Professional Office) zone. Solli Engineering of Monroe is the applicant’s technical consultant.

The special zoning permit is required because the commercial building is proposed for a “change of use.”

According to the March 2, 1990, The Way We Were column in The Newtown Bee, “When David Brown purchased what was then known as the Newtown Bowling Alley in 1984, his intention was to find someone to lease or purchase the building and continue operating the duckpin lanes.

“‘I underestimated the interest of operating the facility for bowling,’ said Mr Brown. He was forced to make a decision that he said broke the heart. He decided to close the alley, and with partner George Reichert, a local architect, decided to renovate it into office space.”

The P&Z has scheduled a public hearing on the change of use application for 6 Mile Hill Road at 7:30 pm on Thursday, May 2, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.