Who is Hearthstone and why are they changing all of the storefronts?

answered 2012-12-20 09:00:55 -0500

Pat
171 ● 3 ● 5

This is Pat Manning, the Main Street Manager for the Beacon Chamber of Commerce. For the reasons why all these buildings are being renovated, please look at my answer to the question about the Key Foods parking lot. 

Hearthstone Construction is a local business that won the bid on the building at Veteran's Place and the Beacon Wines project. In the case of Key Foods, the winning bid and the two higher bids all backed away from the project after bidding because of the limited time (must be done by the end of the month) and being able to make more money in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. With only three weeks remaining, limited materials due to hurricane construction, and having to match the lowest bid, Hearthstone stepped in and saved the project. I publicly say 'thank you' to them.

The design is more in line to the way the buildings should have looked if they were built years before, is what the Office of Historic Preservation advocates to match similar-styled neighboring buildings, and is a style that is commonly used by Beacon architect Aryeh Siegel who designed the new looks at the Beacon Wines and Veteran's Place buildings. With Beacon Wines, what you saw a few weeks ago is about the same way it looked when built in 1958 so you could go either industrial modern or "turn of the century". The owners decided to move towards what you see emerging. People seem very happy with the choice. The Key Foods plaza is in line with the look Key Foods expects, will be a major upgrade to what was there, and is far from 'gentrified'. 

Hope this answers your question.