More than a year after a construction error shut down work on a new CVS Pharmacy building in central Wellington, a completely rebuilt store is nearing completion.
Work began on the project in 2018. The problem-plagued project was halted abruptly in May 2019 when an incorrect concrete roof pour developed a cracking issue and the roof fell in, quite literally.
While the engineer and contractor working on the building suggested ways to fix the error, the Village of Wellington was concerned that the half-built building would remain structurally unsound.
In the end, numerous deficiencies and the failure of the builder to adhere to the approved plans during the construction process made the building beyond correcting, and the first building had to be torn down completely and the debris removed. Then work began on the building for a second time.
Wellington Building Official Jacek Tomasik told the Town-Crier at the time that Wellington had worked to get a permanent fix for the dangerous eyesore. The contractor was replaced, and the project began anew.
“The work has gone very smoothly with the new contractor,” Tomasik told the Town-Crier this week. “They have followed the approved plans and obtained all the inspections. There have been no issues, and there should be no problems getting the final approval.”
The CVS chain dates back to 1963. Employing more than 200,000 personnel at nearly 10,000 locations, the new Wellington freestanding store replaces a nearby inline location in the same center, Wellington Town Square.
The project provided new retail space as part of a phased renovation to the Town Square shopping center. The years-long project provided for the addition of the Provident Jewelry store, Publix was renovated and the Star Liquors store along Forest Hill Blvd. was demolished to allow CVS to relocate from an inline store to the stand-alone building.
Star Liquors, which also operates a store in the Wellington Courtyard Shops, is slated to take over the old CVS location once the new building is complete.
Many Wellington residents will be glad when the project is complete. During the past three years, there have been complaints that an unsightly mess in the construction area had become a hardship for businesses and customers alike, along with a continuing struggle with the inconvenience of limited access and inadequate parking.
The CVS construction project entailed modifications that included constructing a new entrance from Forest Hill Blvd. and additional new parking.
Matt Blanchette, retail communications manager for CVS Pharmacy, told the Town-Crier this week that the new store is expected to open sometime in December.
