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Old Belvidere truck stop burned for redevelopment OLEAN TIMES HERALD 716-372-3121 • BRADFORD PUBLISHING COMPANY
By BOB CLARK
BELVIDERE — It was a fiery end for the old truck stop over the weekend. The former All American Plaza truck stop and restaurant at the corner of Route 19 and County Road 20 in Belvidere was destroyed in a controlled blaze, said Allegany County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director Craig Clark, clearing the way for redevelopment. “It’s the first step — we’re very happy to take that first step,” Clark said, noting the IDA has been attempting to redevelop the site for more than a decade. In August, the IDA announced that Quicklee’s, founded in 1995 in Avon, would build its 20th location on the site. A fast foodtype restaurant is also to be included in the development. Setting fire to a building for demolition is not typical for the start of such redevelopments, Clark said, and it was a push by the developer to make it a reality. “The developer wanted to get started working with the community,” Clark said, adding it was an act of goodwill to bring in the Belmont Fire Department and
Photo by Bob Clark A K.S. LaForge Excavating Inc. employee clears the site of the former truck stop at the corner of Route 19 and County Road 20 in Belvidere on Monday following a controlled burn Sunday. Developers are planning to build a new truck stop at the site under the Quicklee’s brand in 2020.
other agencies for the training exercise. “It’s a good first step. (Fire departments) don’t get to do it very often — and there’s a lot of requirements.” Clark noted the developer needed to do additional work on the building for the burn, including removal of roofing material, adding to the cost. Now that the existing structure is gone, developers plan to be done with the project before next winter. “They’re hoping to get the building permit
for the foundation,” he said, and architectural plans are in hand and waiting for the weather to break. “They’re still saying eight or nine months after the shovels are in the ground to being done.” The timeline works well, as there is one section of the water line from Friendship still in the works before any business can open at the site. “There is an easement we’re still dealing with,” Clark said, affecting around 200 feet of the 3-mile line.
He hopes to have a resolution to the situation soon. The IDA is still working with a second developer on building a hotel at the site. In a 2015 study launched by the IDA and other county agencies, officials figured that a 100-bed hotel at the site could realistically see a 60-percent occupancy rate every day, with sellouts expected multiple times throughout the year. The site is roughly in the middle between Wellsville
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and Houghton, home of Houghton College. The surrounding area also includes numerous state forests, which are popular with out-of-area hunters who need a place to stay. IN LIGHT OF development moving forward, the Allegany County Board of Legislators approved a 2-year, $450,000 partnership with the IDA on Monday with no opposition. “The IDA is going to work harder, particularly for the Crossroads,” Clark
said, with the money going toward marketing efforts to drive more development at the site. “Now that we have the water line, we’re going to really go at the Crossroads development.” Under the resolution approved Monday, the IDA will receive up to $225,000 in 2020 and the same amount in 2021 to “provide an energetic and continuing program of promoting industrial development and enhancing the economic climate of the County.”
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