As plans move forward for the redevelopment of the Barn Plaza shopping center in Doylestown Township, owners of the center are asking for several zoning variances.
Among them is permission to raze the now-closed Regal Barn Cinema and its two stone-façade silos, a visual landmark for decades along Route 611.
At a previous zoning hearing board meeting to consider Brixmor Property Group’s request, township manager Stephanie Mason told the board she had looked into the silos’ history and found they have no historic value.
“They are deteriorating and they should probably go,” said Mason. “They are not historic in any way, shape or form. They were done aesthetically at the time because there used to be one at the old Barn Cinema.”
In 1997, AMC Theaters bought the Barn 5 and tore the building down. Regal Cinemas then purchased the property and built the Barn Plaza 14, adding two large stucco silos, to remember the Barn’s earlier life.
Brixmor is also asking to raze the vacant Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill + Bar, where it wants to build two, as yet unnamed, restaurants and a retail store.
The movie theater site will hold three new “upscale” buildings, including 7,600-square-foot medical office space, 24,000 square feet of retail businesses and 9,000 square feet of restaurant use, Brixmor VP Bill Greimel said previously.
The property owners are also seeking approval for parking space stalls, drive-through stacking lanes and signage.
The zoning board’s decision is expected this month.
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