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Buckland continues to expand


blink55184

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Sorry... but I despise the whole Buckland culture. Big box store development, strip malls, chain store names and miles of surface parking lots. I hate it all.

I agree...I like marketing perspectives and special wonders that Greater Hartford has to offer but one of if not the largest retail area in the Northeast which is comprised of chain stores (big box, etc) is not one I want.

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Here in Scottsdale, there is a place called Kierland Commons. It basically brings small town main street to Arizona. There is a bunch of these kind of developments going on in Arizona. I think they would work well in Connecticut, they add a good mix of high end retail along with residential in upstairs lofts. How about something like this at Front Street? The closest thing to this in Connecticut would be Evergeen in South Windsor, but I don't belive Evergreen has residential.

http://www.kierlandcommons.com/

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Here in Scottsdale, there is a place called Kierland Commons. It basically brings small town main street to Arizona. There is a bunch of these kind of developments going on in Arizona. I think they would work well in Connecticut, they add a good mix of high end retail along with residential in upstairs lofts. How about something like this at Front Street? The closest thing to this in Connecticut would be Evergeen in South Windsor, but I don't belive Evergreen has residential.

http://www.kierlandcommons.com/

That's exactly what we need. These "lifestyle centers" would be at least tolorable with residential mixed in.

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I would love for someone to put a Sonic there....I always get upset when commericals come on Comedy Central about how good the food is, get a craving, and then remember that the closest Sonic is in Ephrata, PENNSYLVANIA!!!!

TaylorG:

I'm not sure of how SONIC's carhops would do in the winters -- since their trademarks are the skating carhops. Sonics doesn't have indoor seating areas (like Wendy's, McDonald's, BurgerKing has) but outdoor patio and car service. I think Sonics would do good there.

JimS

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That's exactly what we need. These "lifestyle centers" would be at least tolorable with retail mixed in.

That's exactly what "Evergreen Walk" is going to be. The "Shoppes at Evergreen Walk" is only the first phase. I believe condos etc. is planned for the future.

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the closest Sonic is in Ephrata, PENNSYLVANIA!!!!

Ugh, those commercials are so annoying, is that where Sonic is? Why do we have to suffer these commercials if Sonic is 3 states away? I can't travel that far for a lime rickey smoothie! :lol:

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Yes, once Stop N Shop moved across the street, and Marshalls moved to Buckland, all the small local business died off, leaving Bradlees all alone for a while. Now nothing.

My brother works for the company that boarded up bradlees afterwards, said a bunch of bums were living in some of the vacancy.

What a waste of space, especially when a few years ago the town was desperatly searching for a lot to build a new high school. Theyve since decided to continue to renovate the ancient overcrowded building and keep adding more ugly portable classrooms.

Something really needs to be done with that plaza.

The funny thing is back in the day, the Bradlees/Marshall's plaza was the thriving one, and the one across the street with D&L was the run down one. Now it's done a complete 180.

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The funny thing is back in the day, the Bradlees/Marshall's plaza was the thriving one, and the one across the street with D&L was the run down one. Now it's done a complete 180.

Yes, I remember that perfectly. That plaza actually had an indoor mall part too, with marshalls have an interior exit, a haunted house around halloween, santa at xmas, first federal savings was in there.

I really can't believe a developer or the town hasn't done something on Broad street yet.

There were plans mid last year to widen Broad st, from West Middle up to Center street, after a full study was done.

Everything about the study can be found here

"Parkade Revitalization Study Documents"

http://www.ci.manchester.ct.us/Planning/Pa...dyDocuments.htm

They wanted to put a median all the way down Broad st. with trees and sidewalks, there are some interesting picture renditions. One of them turns the empty buildings into 2 baseball fields, along with other empty fields, all along the brook that flows behind there. However I've been back there, the brook would need a SERIOUS clean up effort. There are numerous concepts with pictures posted there; a commercial concept, park concept, housing concept, etc. I encourage you to take a look.

Check out some of the files on that link, very interesting, however typical Manchester..The study was 2003-2004..Nothing has been done with the park or street widening. You know what streets were widened AGAIN though? Buckland.

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The plan was completed last year and the town portion (street improvements) are still in the works. The developer is looking for tenant(s) but the problem is, this site (The Parkade) can't compete with Buckland in terms of highway access. I prefer one of the mixed-use concepts myself...

Yes, I remember that perfectly. That plaza actually had an indoor mall part too, with marshalls have an interior exit, a haunted house around halloween, santa at xmas, first federal savings was in there.

I really can't believe a developer or the town hasn't done something on Broad street yet.

There were plans mid last year to widen Broad st, from West Middle up to Center street, after a full study was done.

Everything about the study can be found here

"Parkade Revitalization Study Documents"

http://www.ci.manchester.ct.us/Planning/Pa...dyDocuments.htm

They wanted to put a median all the way down Broad st. with trees and sidewalks, there are some interesting picture renditions. One of them turns the empty buildings into 2 baseball fields, along with other empty fields, all along the brook that flows behind there. However I've been back there, the brook would need a SERIOUS clean up effort.

Check out some of the files on that link, very interesting, however typical Manchester..The study was 2003-2004..Nothing has been done with the park or street widening. You know what streets were widened AGAIN though? Buckland.

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The plan was completed last year and the town portion (street improvements) are still in the works. The developer is looking for tenant(s) but the problem is, this site (The Parkade) can't compete with Buckland in terms of highway access. I prefer one of the mixed-use concepts myself...

I also would prefer a mixed use. The concept with a few stores, a buffer, and some housing is nice.

What do you mean by "the plan was completed last year"?

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Sorry. A streetscape plan was completed by the town in March, 2005. I think you already mentioned this. It's not a full set of plans. But, I think town funds will still be used for these improvements in conjunction with whatever develops there.

I also would prefer a mixed use. The concept with a few stores, a buffer, and some housing is nice.

What do you mean by "the plan was completed last year"?

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Sorry. A streetscape plan was completed by the town in March, 2005. I think you already mentioned this. It's not a full set of plans. But, I think town funds will still be used for these improvements in conjunction with whatever develops there.

I just received an email from a Town of Manchester Economic planner who told me the following about the Broad St. Revitalization-

"On the public sector front the Town has received $400,000 in State bond

funds to pay for the final engineering of the Broad St. improvement and

streetscape project. We are still seeking the construction funds.

On the private side there is a lot of chatter about prospective tenants

or buyers for the parkade and also for other properties on Broad St.,

but so far no deals have been finalized. We maintain contact with the

property owners and realtors involved."

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Yes, I remember that perfectly. That plaza actually had an indoor mall part too, with marshalls have an interior exit, a haunted house around halloween, santa at xmas, first federal savings was in there.

I really can't believe a developer or the town hasn't done something on Broad street yet.

There were plans mid last year to widen Broad st, from West Middle up to Center street, after a full study was done.

Everything about the study can be found here

"Parkade Revitalization Study Documents"

http://www.ci.manchester.ct.us/Planning/Pa...dyDocuments.htm

They wanted to put a median all the way down Broad st. with trees and sidewalks, there are some interesting picture renditions. One of them turns the empty buildings into 2 baseball fields, along with other empty fields, all along the brook that flows behind there. However I've been back there, the brook would need a SERIOUS clean up effort. There are numerous concepts with pictures posted there; a commercial concept, park concept, housing concept, etc. I encourage you to take a look.

Check out some of the files on that link, very interesting, however typical Manchester..The study was 2003-2004..Nothing has been done with the park or street widening. You know what streets were widened AGAIN though? Buckland.

blink:

That indoor Mall was the old Butterfield's/Forbes & Wallace store. That building (When they built it in the 70s), made Adam's Apple and the Card Gallery hard to get to, because it blocked off the front of those two stores. Stop & Shop and Bradlee's were successful and F&W would have been, but F&W expanded to late (they were a downtown Springfield store, so they wanted to try opening stores in suburbs) and when they closed - FIRST HARTFORD (the owner of the Broad Street Parkcade) started Butterfield's.

When that failed, they started the indoor mall with Marshall's moving from Center Street (former First National Store, now the district courthouse). The mall did ok, but when Buckland started, they moved to their new location, so the Mall closed. CVS was the last tenant lasting until 2003.

Adam's Apple moved to Vernon around 1980 and went out of business (after a fire) around 1985. Adam's Apple was across the street from Rein's Deli.

JimS

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blink:

That indoor Mall was the old Butterfield's/Forbes & Wallace store. That building (When they built it in the 70s), made Adam's Apple and the Card Gallery hard to get to, because it blocked off the front of those two stores. Stop & Shop and Bradlee's were successful and F&W would have been, but F&W expanded to late (they were a downtown Springfield store, so they wanted to try opening stores in suburbs) and when they closed - FIRST HARTFORD (the owner of the Broad Street Parkcade) started Butterfield's.

When that failed, they started the indoor mall with Marshall's moving from Center Street (former First National Store, now the district courthouse). The mall did ok, but when Buckland started, they moved to their new location, so the Mall closed. CVS was the last tenant lasting until 2003.

Adam's Apple moved to Vernon around 1980 and went out of business (after a fire) around 1985. Adam's Apple was across the street from Rein's Deli.

JimS

I remember a hobby store or electronic store in the old plaza as well, I can't remember the name tho.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 9 months later...

Hi Connecticut! I'm just checking in via the Providence UP. I haven't been to Manchester in years, so I can't add anything current to this thread, but reading it has been interesting and kind of alarming to learn what Buckland's turned into. Holy smoke do I feel old right now. I was born in Manchester in 1954, so my earliest memories of Buckland involve the Caldor store that was the anchor of a small plaza right next to the highway. Right across the highway, everything was acres and acres of shade-grown tobacco dotted with a big red tobacco barn here and there. The crops were tented under vast, flat cotton gauze coverings and when the wind was blowing it would ripple the cloth in waves. It looked very much like an ocean, only bright, bright white. In the early sixties, the fresh, hard-edged, hardtopped Caldor plaza looked very much out of place. Going there was like being dropped from the countryside into the future.

My dad worked for years at a small (10-12 guys, probably) machine shop maybe half a mile down the road from Caldor; Buckland Manufacturing. It was an ordinary two-lane road that led from Manchester to Buckland, and pretty much ended up right in front of Caldor. I think it connected to North Street, but I've forgotten a lot of the names.

My grandparents owned the house on Kerry Street next to the dam on on Union Pond, which stank terribly in those days thanks to discharge from the paper mills upstream. This area was what the old timers called the "Polock Village" (hey, that's what they called it -- most of my family lived there or had grown up there).

My grandmother shopped for groceries at an ancient A&P -- a tiny, wood-floored, 1860's-era brick storefront right at the foot of the street that comes down the hill by St. Brigit's Church (assuming that's not long-gone, too...). She had a huge vegetable garden between the house and the dam, and she fed half the neighborhood from it. Other than that, we'd go downtown to shop, and as I first recall it, downtown was a well-kept and thriving town center. Soon after that, Caldor and the Parkade shops started drawing the life out of it.

As I said, I haven't seen the area in years, but I'm pretty sure from what I've read in this thread I wouldn't recognize a thing. And this post is hands-down the old-fartiest thing I've ever written. :wacko:

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Hi Connecticut! I'm just checking in via the Providence UP. I haven't been to Manchester in years, so I can't add anything current to this thread, but reading it has been interesting and kind of alarming to learn what Buckland's turned into. Holy smoke do I feel old right now. I was born in Manchester in 1954, so my earliest memories of Buckland involve the Caldor store that was the anchor of a small plaza right next to the highway. Right across the highway, everything was acres and acres of shade-grown tobacco dotted with a big red tobacco barn here and there. The crops were tented under vast, flat cotton gauze coverings and when the wind was blowing it would ripple the cloth in waves. It looked very much like an ocean, only bright, bright white. In the early sixties, the fresh, hard-edged, hardtopped Caldor plaza looked very much out of place. Going there was like being dropped from the countryside into the future.

My dad worked for years at a small (10-12 guys, probably) machine shop maybe half a mile down the road from Caldor; Buckland Manufacturing. It was an ordinary two-lane road that led from Manchester to Buckland, and pretty much ended up right in front of Caldor. I think it connected to North Street, but I've forgotten a lot of the names.

My grandparents owned the house on Kerry Street next to the dam on on Union Pond, which stank terribly in those days thanks to discharge from the paper mills upstream. This area was what the old timers called the "Polock Village" (hey, that's what they called it -- most of my family lived there or had grown up there).

My grandmother shopped for groceries at an ancient A&P -- a tiny, wood-floored, 1860's-era brick storefront right at the foot of the street that comes down the hill by St. Brigit's Church (assuming that's not long-gone, too...). She had a huge vegetable garden between the house and the dam, and she fed half the neighborhood from it. Other than that, we'd go downtown to shop, and as I first recall it, downtown was a well-kept and thriving town center. Soon after that, Caldor and the Parkade shops started drawing the life out of it.

As I said, I haven't seen the area in years, but I'm pretty sure from what I've read in this thread I wouldn't recognize a thing. And this post is hands-down the old-fartiest thing I've ever written. :wacko:

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Hi Connecticut! I'm just checking in via the Providence UP. I haven't been to Manchester in years, so I can't add anything current to this thread, but reading it has been interesting and kind of alarming to learn what Buckland's turned into. Holy smoke do I feel old right now. I was born in Manchester in 1954, so my earliest memories of Buckland involve the Caldor store that was the anchor of a small plaza right next to the highway. Right across the highway, everything was acres and acres of shade-grown tobacco dotted with a big red tobacco barn here and there. The crops were tented under vast, flat cotton gauze coverings and when the wind was blowing it would ripple the cloth in waves. It looked very much like an ocean, only bright, bright white. In the early sixties, the fresh, hard-edged, hardtopped Caldor plaza looked very much out of place. Going there was like being dropped from the countryside into the future.

My dad worked for years at a small (10-12 guys, probably) machine shop maybe half a mile down the road from Caldor; Buckland Manufacturing. It was an ordinary two-lane road that led from Manchester to Buckland, and pretty much ended up right in front of Caldor. I think it connected to North Street, but I've forgotten a lot of the names.

My grandparents owned the house on Kerry Street next to the dam on on Union Pond, which stank terribly in those days thanks to discharge from the paper mills upstream. This area was what the old timers called the "Polock Village" (hey, that's what they called it -- most of my family lived there or had grown up there).

My grandmother shopped for groceries at an ancient A&P -- a tiny, wood-floored, 1860's-era brick storefront right at the foot of the street that comes down the hill by St. Brigit's Church (assuming that's not long-gone, too...). She had a huge vegetable garden between the house and the dam, and she fed half the neighborhood from it. Other than that, we'd go downtown to shop, and as I first recall it, downtown was a well-kept and thriving town center. Soon after that, Caldor and the Parkade shops started drawing the life out of it.

As I said, I haven't seen the area in years, but I'm pretty sure from what I've read in this thread I wouldn't recognize a thing. And this post is hands-down the old-fartiest thing I've ever written. :wacko:

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My uncles used to work in those tobacco fields

I've read in several books about the polish being there- Union village and most of the area around manchester depot was all polish people.

Do you mean the brick building right next to St. Bridgets? It used to be a cracker factory.

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robm, it's been so long that I don't even have a clue as to where the JoAnn's plaza is, but if you remember a big field there, it almost has to have been one of the tobacco fields -- they stretched on and on, literally all the way to the horizon. I share your feelings about the kind of development that's happened in Buckland and so many other, similar places -- but it does seem to be what a lot of Americans want, and like.
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