Kroger has abandoned plans to build a gas station on the site of Hollywood Video, to the south of its store at 2410 Bardstown Road.

“There was a lot of consternation,” says Art Cestaro, president of the Deer Park Neighborhood Association. “Apparently they have decided not to do that, so that’s good news.” Cestaro adds that eventually Kroger came to realize that with the already-congested Bardstown-Taylorsville-Trevilian area, it was almost unanimously a bad idea—unanimously “except for Kroger.” He says that the gas station, which would not even be at a corner, would exacerbate the already knotty traffic situation. Also, neighbors in the Belknap neighborhood, where the gas station would be located, voiced concern about fuel runoff contaminating their yards after heavy rains.

Meanwhile, plans for a CVS near the Douglass Loop remain in a holding pattern. (Kroger owns the land on which the present Highlands store location stands.) “I did speak with someone at the architectural firm in Cleveland they were taken aback at all the interest in [the plan] and all the people at the meeting,” Cestaro says. “I explained that the Twig and Leaf is a specific institution and the way the corner is, that's the reason people are upset. [The developers] are not understanding anything about the area or the tradition of the area. Their drawing was nice, and [they thought] architecturally they could put up something that fits in, but that's not the point.” He reiterates that the investigation into any demolition or building is “very preliminary still.”

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Photo: Courtesy Kroger