BENNINGTON – A major renovation project is planned for the Walmart store in the Monument Plaza shopping center in Bennington on Northside Drive.
The project, estimated at $3.1 million, comes at the same time as the opening of a Harbor Freight Tools store at the Bennington Square shopping center on Kocher Drive — along with construction underway to pave the way for a planned Marshalls department store at the mall.
“The city of Bennington is clearly known as a good location for business,” said city communications coordinator Jonah Spivak when asked for comment on ongoing local development. “The many new businesses coming to town is a strong indicator that interest in our community is strong and growing.”
According to plans for the $3,187,900 interior remodel at Walmart in Bennington, the remodeled space will include 4,475 square feet of the 112,000 square foot store.
The plans were submitted to the city by New Jersey-based Neves Architecture & Design LLC on behalf of BLS Monument LLC, the mall’s owner, and received local approval last month.
Project officials were unavailable on Tuesday to provide further details on the planned changes or a timetable for the work.
According to Kim Lutchko, Vermont Act 250 district coordinator, “the consultants on the (Walmart) project recently asked our office for a determination as to whether the proposed improvements require an Act 250 permit modification. It was determined that the scope of the improvements does indeed require an Act 250 permit modification.”
She added: “This is the pre-application phase, so no application has been received by our office yet.”
Other projects
Meanwhile, renovations have been completed on a new Harbor Freight Tools store in Bennington Square Center. The store is open and will soon have a grand opening, according to employees.
Marshalls and Harbor Freight plan progress at Bennington Square
The same retail building – a former 5,150-square-foot Kmart store – is currently undergoing renovations to accommodate a Marshalls department store. There is no timeline for that store to open.
Additionally, a third retail space will be created in the former Kmart building, but no potential tenant has yet been found.
Kmart closed its Bennington store in 2018 after operating there since 1979.
Bennington Square Center also features a Staples store, a Label Shopper and other shops.
Rhode Island-based Ocean State Job Lot purchased the 24-acre, 150,000-square-foot center on Kocher Drive in 2020 and currently operates an Ocean State Job Lot store there in a 38,970-square-foot former JC Penney location.
Construction of new Burger King has finally begun
The 20,548-square-foot Monument Plaza shopping center also houses a Price Chopper supermarket, a Sherwin-Williams paint store, a Petco, a Town Fair Tire store, a Verizon outlet and other stores, as well as a new Burger King restaurant that will open near the center’s entrance in 2023.
