Meijer-Bainbridge Stalemate Over Design Issues Comes to End
Representatives from the Michigan-based Meijer stores are willing to comply with Bainbridge Township officials' request to add Geauga Lake nostalgia to its proposed store design.
Representatives from the Michigan-based Meijer stores are willing to comply with Bainbridge Township officials’ request to add Geauga Lake nostalgia to its proposed store design, trustees learned Monday.
Consultant Jennifer Syx, president of Insight Advisory Group, told trustees at their Nov. 9 meeting negotiations are progressing in an attempt to end what one trustee had called a “Mexican standoff” last month between the township and Meijer officials.
The deadlock occurred over trustees’ demand that the retailer alter designs for a proposed 193,000-square-foot mega-store on 41 acres of the former Geauga Lake amusement park.
Plans for the Meijer store have been in the works for over a year, with threatened litigation over a zoning moratorium, demands on both sides for zoning and design concessions, and other obstacles threatening at times to sideline the project.
The latest hurdle came in October, when Bainbridge officials declared a stalemate with the retailer over several issues, including limiting entrances off state Route 43 and the township’s insistence that Meijer find a way to pay tribute to the amusement park’s long history in the store’s design.
“We’re making progress in working everything out,” Syx told trustees Monday. “I’m pleased with the negotiations so far.”
Syx said Meijer officials have agreed to a four-sided building design, an internal access road that will require only two curb cuts on Route 43, and an offer to memorialize Geauga Lake history with a monument sign similar to an Ohio historic marker.
“It’s nice to see they are thinking about it,” Syx said. “The nostalgia (requirement) has been a hurdle. They are very willing to collaborate on it. It’s difficult for them to understand the importance because they are a Michigan company.”
Syx said the company already places mechanical riding horses at some of their stores and may be open to adding a mural in the vestibule area of the store or design shopping cart corrals to resemble roller coaster cars as well as possibly naming parking aisles after popular Geauga Lake rides or something similar.
She proposed scheduling a work session with trustees and store officials to get public input on ways to memorialize Geauga Lake on the store property.
Historical Society President Chuck Hesse said his group has many photos and the City of Aurora has artifacts from the park that could be incorporated in some way. Syx said members of the Coaster Enthusiasts Club could be included.
The park’s signature wooden roller coaster, the Big Dipper, remains on the former park property after efforts failed to find a buyer who could move it and restore it. Syx said she had heard it would take at least $500,000 for renovations.
Trustees said they would like to schedule a public meeting in early December to gather ideas and suggestions from the public about ways for the store to incorporate park nostalgia.
They asked Syx to ask Meijer officials for possible dates for the meeting.
“Okay, will do,” Syx told trustees.
