By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
In 2019, the Menard company picked a site in Bowling Green and got multiple zoning waivers to build a home improvement store. Then Covid hit, and time stood still for new projects across the nation and here in Bowling Green.
Since then, persistent questions about Menard’s languishing plan to build in Bowling Green have almost rivaled the running joke about an Applebee’s locating here.
Over the last seven years, BG Planning Director Heather Sayler checked in with company officials occasionally to see if the project might be resurrected. Sayler was told that Menard was focusing on its operations side – not expansion – during COVID. The company built only one new site during the pandemic, and that was because it had already been started in February of 2020.
But on Wednesday, Sayler reported to the BG Planning Commission that the local project is still on Menard’s radar. The company has applied for a zoning permit to build, and a revised plan for the new store may be filed with the city within the next week.
And today, Jeff Abbott, a spokesperson for Menard Inc., said the store is still on the books for the south end of Bowling Green, at 1220 S. Main St., just south of Walmart and across South Main Street from Home Depot.
“Bowling Green is a great community and we’re excited to build this new store and bring more shopping convenience to the region,” Abbott said.
The timeline calls for the store to be in operation sometime in 2028.
“We are still working through the planning and approval process. If all goes as planned, we hope to start site preparation sometime in early 2027 with completion of the project in 2028.”
The project will be the same as it was introduced in 2019, with more than 205,000 square feet inside.
“The Bowling Green store will have all the great qualities of other Menards stores in the region plus a few new features that we’re still working on,” Abbott said.
One of those features may be storage units behind the store – an addition being tried at several of the newer stores, Sayler said she was told.
“This is obviously a pretty big project,” she said.
When first introduced, Menard officials estimated the number of employees at the store to be in the range of 125 to 250 jobs, some full and some part-time.
“The exact number is not available but there will be a variety of part-time and full-time positions available in sales, merchandising, logistics and management,” Abbott said. “We will welcome applicants to apply in person at the store or online at Menards.com when the time comes.”
The property owned by Menard is already zoned commercial. Three waivers have already been approved for the company by the Bowling Green Planning Commission.
The first waiver involved parking spaces. A typical Menard store has about 400 parking spaces. However, the city standards at that time required 693 based on the size of the store.
While other large retailers build vast parking lots to meet the Christmas rush, Menard’s peak sales periods are spread over the spring and summer seasons.
Menard does not generate the same type of high traffic volumes as general retailers, like WalMart or Meijer, a representative of Menard told Bowling Green’s Planning Commission in 2019. The total floor area at Menard includes large display and warehousing areas, plus larger aisles for maneuvering bulky items.
“These features contribute to the large building square footage and make building size a poor indicator of parking needs,” the store representative stated.
A second waiver was requested for the landscaping and long-length island requirement. The company asked that the landscaped islands be at the end of the parking rows. End islands, rather than length-wise islands, work better for the many customers driving larger pickup trucks with trailers.
The Menard representative said the company is willing to plant trees surrounding the parking lot, plus additional trees around the retention pond, along the drive to the lumberyard, and along South Main Street. Back in 2019, the company committed to 66 trees being planted on the site, with the type of trees meeting the city arborist’s specifications.
The third waiver involved the detention pond setback at the side property line. Grading for the pond begins 10 feet from the side property line.
Variances from three city sign regulations have also already been granted. Menard officials requested a 40-foot sign along South Main Street that exceeds the city’s maximum height of 25 feet. Store officials were also granted a variance to the city ordinance that allows up to three signs on the exterior of the building.
And about Applebee’s …
While nothing new has been submitted by Applebee’s to the city planning office, Sayler said she recently learned that at least one business had offered to buy the property owned by Applebee’s at 1175 S. Main St.
“They wouldn’t sell it,” Sayler said.
