By Staff
NILES -- Downtown Niles is not the only part of town undergoing construction right now.
With the current construction projects at Lowe's and the Niles Township Fire Station and renovations taking place at the old Eastgate Shopping Center, there will be new and improved buildings popping up all over the Niles area later this year.
Eastgate Shopping Center
Karen Stinnett is the manager of Dollar General, one of the few businesses to survive the fall out at Eastgate Shopping Center.
And that is exactly what the California-based Shop Commercial, LLC, which purchased the shopping center in late December, is trying to do with renovations that include a new parking lot, new roofs and a new paint job.
A representative of the company, who asked not to be named, is hoping all of the renovation work will be completed in a couple of months. He said they will then start to aggressively market the shopping center to new businesses.
The name will be changed from Eastgate Shopping Center to Tri-City Plaza.
Stinnett said she has had no contact with the new ownership, but hopes the improvements will bring new life to the east side of town. She said business was much better at the Dollar Store when it was surrounded by other businesses.
Joyce Vaughn, owner of the Plaza 2 Restaurant, also has high hopes for the future of the shopping center.
Vaughn has heard rumors that some of the new tenants may include a possible beauty shop and grocery store.
Lowe's
The construction site for the new Lowe's is starting to take shape as crews are busy working on erecting the steel for the building's frame.
The new home improvement store will encompass 116,000 square feet of interior space and that is not counting the attached garden center.
The Kalamazoo office of Skanska is the construction company overseeing the project, which officially began on May 3. The store will be located just north of Walmart on S. 11th Street in Niles Township.
Site superintendent Maria Ruedinger said their contract with Lowe's gives the company until Oct. 26 to finish the construction, a date she said they will definitely meet.
When construction is complete, it will take Lowe's about six more weeks for racking and merchandising before the store opens for business, Ruedinger said.
She said the project has been going smoothly thus far, despite a few of the normal "hiccups" here and there.
With the foundation work already finished and the completion of the steel work drawing near, some of the major projects remaining include erecting the pre-cast wall panels, roofing and electrical work.
On Wednesday, there were about 35 workers on site, but as the project progresses over the next few weeks, Ruedinger expects to have close to 100 workers present on a daily basis.
She said the rainy weather has had a small impact on construction, but the sandy soil has helped to make the conditions more bearable.
Niles Township Fire Station
There is similar progress being made at the construction site of the new Niles Township Fire Station, which recently had its steel frame erected.
Construction at the site, which is located on township property just south of Bell Road on Third Street, officially began on March 31. The project cost about $1.4 million and is being completed by Shelton Construction.
Niles Township interim fire chief Gary Brovold said everything is pretty much on schedule and expects the department to move into the building in late December.
He said the 9,300 square foot building will include three drive through bays, a training room, administrative offices, four individual shift bunk rooms and a living quarters.
Brovold noted some of the new facility's most important benefits will be the training room and the fact that the department will now be able to store all of its equipment in one place.