‘Gateway to West Acton’ set for country store rebirth
Town Planner Elizabeth Hughes said crews would be breaking ground soon at the former E & S Mobile Service site.
A longtime West Acton gas station is opening a new chapter with a country store and revamped gas pumps.
Construction fencing went up in recent weeks around the site at 166 Commonwealth Avenue, near Laws Brooks Road. Town Planner Elizabeth Hughes said crews would be breaking ground soon.
Mendon businessman Kevin Meehan and his team first presented plans to the West Acton Advisory Committee in January as an extension of their Imperial-branded stores and gas stations.
Then-committee member Nicole Hammond called the property “a gateway to West Acton” during the panel’s meeting with Meehan, whose broader portfolio includes multiple car dealerships.
Town boards approved the project over the summer. Project representatives have promised a store selling goods including candy, local crafts, and hardware store items.
The property sits at one end of West Acton Village, near Rideout Park and the MCI-Acton prison campus, which is targeted for redevelopment.
The parcel has “seen better days, to put it mildly,” lawyer Jonathan Silverstein said as the project went before the Zoning Board of Appeals. “[W]e’re hoping to change that.”
Plans show a landscaped area along Nashoba Brook and more grass and trees elsewhere on the lot.
The planned store has drawn comparisons to the former West Acton 5 & 10. It will be smaller than the current garage, architect Aksel Solberg said.
The project team added accessibility measures and adjusted parking and landscaping layouts as they workshopped their concept with the town.
The site will have three regular parking spaces, one electric-vehicle charging spot, a fifth space for charging or normal parking, and an accessible space.
The property was home to E & S Mobile Service, which closed last year after 57 years at the site. Another developer eyed the tract for a mix of housing and commercial space in 2023 but pulled the proposal amid community pushback.
‘A nice addition’
Margot Kimball runs the Art for All community art center next to 166 Commonwealth and said the country store seems like “a nice addition” — as long as it doesn’t block sunlight for the art studios.
The store is “not another cookie-cutter Cumbies,” Kimball told The Acton Bridge in an email. She’s looking forward to being able to buy a bag of peanuts there “when I need a little boost.”
Although many have praised the project, West Concordian Eric Young slammed the initial proposal in a letter to the editor published in The Bridge. He cited traffic safety concerns and called the design “entirely inappropriate” for that part of town.
Asked about the final design, he said he didn’t want to be quoted.
Customers streamed in and out of Nashoba Brook Bakery one recent afternoon as crews finished installing fencing around 166 Commonwealth.
Harvey Kinsey works nearby and said he’s excited to see a new building go up. “It will be much better” than the status quo, he said.
Project representatives didn’t respond to Bridge questions about their expected timeline.
Hughes said workers will remove existing underground gas tanks during the first phase of construction.
