By CHARLES YOUNG
NCWV Media
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — The Bridgeport community can expect a commercial development to open next summer, according to the project’s owners.
The owners of the Square @ Bridgeport, a retail shopping center proposed for the site of Valley Hills Plaza, are prepared to spend $1 million renovating and updating structures on the property, co-owner Pete Prokopchuk said.
“We just saw an opportunity there that had been left open for a number of years,” he said.
(WVNews photo by Charles Young)
“It’s at the intersection of Route 50 and Route 58,” he said, “right behind BB&T bank and the Manchin Clinic.”
Omni Associates, a locally based architecture firm, has been hired to handle the redesign of the two buildings already located on the property, Prokopchuk said.
“There are already two buildings there, and we’re renovating both of them,” he said. “That should be starting some time in January.”
The project is a complete overhaul of both buildings, Prokopchuk said.
“We’re renovating everything,” he said. “Total new glass, new facades, new parking lot surfacing, new lightning. … By mid-summer, it should be complete and totally new.”
Construction for the project is being undertaken by the Hughes Corp. out of Sycamore, Pennsylvania, Prokopchuk said.
“They do lots of shopping centers,” he said. “That’s what they do. It’s going to be looking like a brand new facility.”
The owners envision the new development as a smaller, more community-oriented version of developments like White Oaks and Charles Pointe, Prokopchuk said.
“The difference is we’re going to be where all the rooftops are,” he said. “There are lots and lots of houses right there. We’re going to be like the neighborhood shopping center.”
The development’s name, The Square @ Bridgeport, is meant to evoke thoughts of old town squares, updated for the Twitter era, Prokopchuk said.
Scott Werdebaugh, co-owner of the development, said he hopes The Square @ Bridgeport can become a central part of the Bridgeport community.
“We want it to be a place where people come and do different activities,” he said. “One of the things we’ve discussed is working with local churches to have a live nativity scene or having Santa there, pep rallies for Bridgeport football, just anything that gets the community involved.”
The owners are already in the process of talking to potential tenants for the two buildings’ six to eight retail spaces, Prokopchuk said.
“We want them to be community-based, as opposed to national chains,” he said. “I don’t want to mention too many names, but we’ve talked to a pharmacist, and we’ve got a wonderful restaurant concept we’re working with right now.”
There is also room to build additional structures at some point in time, Prokopchuk said.
“We’re discussing building a third building,” he said.
For more information on The Square @ Bridgeport, call 304-282-4700.
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