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Tim Horton’s Won’t Have Ice Cream Component At New Athens Store
By: Sara Brumfield | Athens Messenger
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A new Tim Hortons Café and Bake Shop slated to be built on East State Street will not include a Cold Stone Creamery as previously planned.
The Ontario-based restaurant chain plans to build a new shop where the former Pizza Hut sits in the Shoppes at Athens (formerly the Athens Mall) shopping plaza on East State Street.
Athens City Code Enforcement Director John Paszke confirmed that Tim Hortons has submitted new building plans to the city that do not include the ice cream business. Paszke said the footprint of the building is one-fourth to one-third smaller than in the original plans. However, the traffic pattern and site plan will remain the same, he added.
Although the project is not required to be approved through the city’s Title 41 review process because the building is less than 5,000 square feet, Paszke said representatives of the company brought the original project to the city’s planning commission. The commission recommended that the parking and traffic flow within the shopping plaza be re-examined.
According to Paszke, motorists leaving Tim Hortons and other businesses within the plaza will exit at the traffic light at the intersection of Eden Place and East State Street. He said that a curb will be installed at the access road to the plaza (across Pinchot Place) next to Game Stop to prevent motorists from making a left-hand turn onto East State. Left turns are already prohibited at this intersection, however Paszke said many don’t obey the law.
Paszke said he believed that Tim Hortons is awaiting approval from the state on its new building plans before moving forward with deconstruction and demolition of the former Pizza Hut building. He had no timeframe as to when that will take place.