Construction Begins Next Week

For A New Retail Center On Queen Street

By Kaaren Valenta

Ground was broken this week for a new retail shopping complex on the vacant lots at Church Hill Road at Queen Street where the White Birch Inn and Village Texaco formerly stood in the Borough of Newtown.

“Both aesthetically and commercially, this is a big benefit for the town,” said First Selectman Herb Rosenthal.

“This is a happy day,” agreed Jean St Jean, borough zoning official. “This day has been a long time coming.”

Construction is scheduled to begin next week on The Shoppes at Church Hill & Queen, a three-building 17,000-square-foot retail shopping complex on 2.2 acres at 14-16-18 Church Hill Road, with completion anticipated in June 2006.

Webster Bank will open a new 3,400-square-foot retail bank branch and three-lane drive-through facility with an ATM in the new center, according to Peter Wiehl, manager of Church Hill & Queen LLC, owner of the complex.

Other retail stores in the complex will include the gift shop Down on Main Street, plus Bentley Cleaners of Connecticut, and Nina Nail Spa. All businesses plan to open in the summer of 2006, Mr Wiehl said.

The complex is one of the first projects to be subject to the Borough Zoning Commission’s Village District zoning regulations, which seek to have new commercial construction in the borough be in “aesthetic harmony” with existing architecture.

A one-story 6,338-square-foot building will be built at 14 Church Hill Road, in the area where Village Texaco formerly stood.

Two two-story buildings, each of which will contain 5,408 square feet of space, will flank the corner of Church Hill Road and Queen Street. The complex will contain retail space at ground level and office space on the upper level. The structures will be built in a modern version of the Georgian style.

The project will be served by a common parking lot with space for more than 80 vehicles behind the three buildings.

Since 1954, the property has been owned by the Wiehl family, owners of Consumers Petroleum of Trumbull. Most recently it contained The White Birch Inn, a biker bar that was put out of business by a fire in 1987 and finally demolished in 1994. Village Texaco, operated by the Oberg family, lost its franchise in 1986.

“This brings back memories of getting gas here for my 1956 Chevy convertible,” said Queen Street resident Robert Geckle, who attended the groundbreaking.

“I remember [former Olympic swimmer] Bruce Jenner pumping gas at the station,” Herb Rosenthal recalled.

“This project has been a long time in the making but it will be great for the town to have this new commercial development,” he added.

Additional retail and professional space from 1,000 to 6,000 square feet still is available, Mr Wiehl said. For more information contact the R. Calabrese Agency at 203-573-0342 or email ric@calabreseagency.com.