Construction of West Main Gate stores delayed

West Main Gate Center is located at the northeast corner of East University Boulevard and North Euclid Avenue. Although two new commercial buildings were expected to be completely finished by the end of January, that goal has been pushed back a few weeks.

Phil Dinsmore, president of Durrant Architects, said the project was delayed when the foundations of old buildings were discovered.

The foundations then had to be removed and the soil re-compacted, he said.

"It's not an easy process to pull this all together," Dinsmore said. "It's going as well as can be expected, but there are always a few surprises."

Preston Godfrey, project manager for Durrant Architects, said the Gap and Bath and Body Works have already moved into two of the spaces to begin the "fill in" process.

Don Semro, a project manager for West Main Gate Center, said Bath and Body Works plans to be open for Valentine's Day Feb. 14 and the Gap should be open by March 1.

Two other businesses, The Coffee Plantation and The White House, have also signed contracts to move into West Main Gate, he said.

The Coffee Plantation will begin its "fill in" Wednesday. Semro said the start date for The White House is still unknown.

"At this time there are no others. We are looking for two more tenants," he said.

Tom Warne, also a project manager for West Main Gate Center, said the Marshall Foundation, along with other property owners, has formed an improvement district for the area.

The improvements, including plans for new sidewalks, trees, benches, bicycle racks and parking, started yesterday and will take three to eight weeks to complete, Warne said.

He said the improvements will cost at least $400,000 and will be financed over a number of years, like most other improvement districts.

The existing parking along University Boulevard will be replaced with "reverse angular parking," which Warne said will improve safety by making motorists back into the spaces. Then, when the vehicles pull out of a space, they will be facing forward to better see oncoming bike and pedestrian traffic.

He said the improvements will cause only minor traffic delays since the project will work on one side of University Boulevard at a time.

The project's next phase will begin in the fall, giving Park Avenue a new look, Warne said. He said that project should be completed by the summer of 1998.