Starbucks Status: Building Design Finalized, Gas Tanks Out, Water Management In

Developer Gregory Salvatore says the Starbucks project is on target to open in late August. 

"Starbucks is very excited about coming here, they really, really want to be in there by the end of August," said Salvatore. "Barring any glitches...we're really hoping to have them open and operating and serving everybody by the end of August."

Building Design

Salvatore said the final design of the building has been approved.

He said the Historic District Commission "had some suggestions on the outward appearance which we were happy to make."

Those changes included:

• Changing the siding material to clapboards which match other buildings in the area
• "Softened" the banding around the building that faces Main Street and added some awnings
• Reduced the number of paint colors on the building

Underground Storage

Salvatore said the underground gas tanks were removed recently without incident and, last week, the underground management system was installed, something he said is a great improvement to the property.

"We didn't need to do it but we did it because it was the responsible thing to do," Salvatore said. "It was a fairly expensive endeavor but it's a much better thing to do to manage the water on the site." 

Previously, the water would just run off onto North Street and eventually into the town's sewer system. 

Pocket Park

Salvatore said he will be cleaning up the area of the property between the former Mobil station and Zebra's by removing the scrub brush which will make room for a pocket park should the town decide to build one in the future.

Editor's Note: The Downtown Study Committee would like to renovate that strip of town-owned land into an area for pedestrians to enjoy. 

"We would allow access to the property if the town were to put in a pocket park...but at least it will look much neater and cleaner" until then with the removal of the brush, he said. 

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