Business & Tech

Bob Evans Presents Proposal to City Officials

Officials from the Bob Evans presented preliminary plans for the restaurant chain's proposed location at the corner of Detroit Avenue and Park Haven Row.

A new, 4,200-square-foot Bob Evans restaurant could be coming to Detroit Avenue.

Officials from the restaurant presented some preliminary plans to the city’s architectural board of review on Thursday. 

Situated across Park Haven Row from the new GetGo gas station, the restaurant would have one vehicle entrance on that street and another on Detroit Avenue, according to the architect's drawings. 

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As part of Bob Evans’ new design “concept,” it wouldn’t look the traditional restaurant. It would be built up to the sidewalk with around 75 parking spaces in the rear.

However, there are still a few hurdles before construction gets started.

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City officials aren’t quite comfortable with some of the aspects of the traditional Bob Evans design.

“I am not wild about the roofline,” said board member Carl Orban. “This screams Bob Evans. We’d like to tone that down a little. We want it to scream Lakewood.”

Other board members shared some similar opinions. 

“This is a little country-mouse, a little city mouse,” said board chairman Michael Molinski. “It looks nice, but how it fits in here is a bit of a challenge. The branding screams when you see all that red.”

“I don’t know how many inner-ring suburbs you go to, but you’ve got to be flexible,” he added. 

Andrew Hubbard, the director of design for the restaurant, said that the company won’t likely budge too much on design changes.

“We are a brand that has a farm image,” he said. “This has to have some identity because you’ve got get people attracted to the brand.”

“We will take it back to the team to see if there’s some way we can modify (the plans),” added Hubbard.

The .9-acre property next to the new GetGo gas station on Detroit Avenue been vacant for years.

Neighbors have told Lakewood Patch the property is on the market for just under $1 million.

Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development, said that restaurant was presenting “a concept of their new brand of architecture” to the board.

“That brand is still evolving,” he said. “They had a productive discussion but they still have a lot of work to do before they build a project in Lakewood.”


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