Demolition of west side gateway, former EZ Bottle, Adrian's to begin soon

Demolition on Madison's "last slum and blight area" should be complete by August and visitors coming to Madison from the West Washington Street area will be greeted, eventually, by another city park area and brand new infrastructure.

According to Monica Callahan, director of planning, city of Madison, the demolition of the former EZ Bottle Shop liquor store and the former Adrian's Restaurant, both located on a triangle of land between West Washington Street and West Jefferson Street, will commence soon.

In a sweeping project conceived by the Madison Downtown Development Authority (DDA), the city is near completion of an approximate 10-year project to clean up the entrance. The area is approximately 40 acres.

Callahan said the project has moved in stages, with the DDA first constructing a 3,500 square foot building that now houses both EZ Bottle Shop and Martha's Favorites (a re-branding of Adrian's and still owned and operated by the same family). Callahan said after completion of the building, EZ Bottle Shop owners Jaswant Singh and Surjit Kaur purchased their space and Martha's Favorites are renting the restaurant space.

Once the businesses were given new locations, demolition on the triangle could commence. "We had to have a place to move the businesses," says Callahan.

As part of the negation to purchase the property from the Clark family, the remaining park created at the tip of the property's triangle will be known as Clark Park. That area will be deeded to the city by the DDA and will remain a green space.

Development of the gateway area will include an already approved 52-unit apartment complex, with approximately 75 underground parking spaces, Callahan says.

Ground work on the project is complete, she says, "now it's going vertical." The DDA began negotiating the purchase of the area in 2011. "We wanted to provide an attractive entrance to downtown Madison and a more attractive entrance to the Canaan Community," Callahan says.

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