Mayor Don Robart Weighs In On Portage Crossing, Dam Removal Progress

Mayor Don Robart helped CuyahogaFalls.Ohio.com celebrate one year in the business by weighing in on a couple important issues in the city right now.

The community newspaper asked the mayor about the progress with Portage Crossing project, which will bring a slew businesses — including a state-of-the-art Giant Eagle and 10-screen movie theater — to the area of Portage Trail and State Road.

"Menards will technically not be a part of Portage Crossing, we are very much anticipating this major retailer to be in very close proximity to the new development," he told the paper.

Original plans for Menards and Giant Eagle to anchor Portage Crossing were sidetracked in November after Stark was unable to clear room for the proposed 240,000-square-foot, two-story home improvement store when the owner of a nearby Pizza Hut refused to sell his land. 

New plans under discussion may lead to the demolition of the Graham Road Giant Eagle to make room for a scaled-back, one-story Menards store. 

Under this scenario, a Giant Eagle would then be constructed at Portage Crossing and the Graham Road Get-Go station would be moved to the corner of State and Portage Roads where a Marathon station now stands.

However, if Menards is built at the Graham Road location, the tax money it generates would go to the Woodridge Local Schools, not the Cuyahoga Falls City Schools. 

Michael Symon’s B Spot Restaurant, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt remain in the Portage Crossing project, the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

Want to see more thoughts from Robart, including progress on the removal of two Cuyahoga Falls dams? Check out the full report at CuyahogaFalls.Ohio.com.

Are you looking forward to the 2013 project? Tell us in the comments!