Plans for new CVS store in Tredyffrin that preserves historic inn advances

Plans to build a CVS pharmacy in Strafford, revised last month to preserve a historic Main Line landmark on the property, moved forward Thursday when Tredyffrin Township officials approved the new preliminary proposal.

The plans that Ambler-based developer Summit Realty Advisors submitted to the township on April 22 call for a 12,900-square-foot store with a drive-through and a stone facade. The proposed project no longer includes the demolition of the Old Covered Wagon Inn, an 18th-century fieldstone structure at Lancaster Avenue and Old Eagle School Road. The inn, which measures about 800 square feet, would remain on the corner of the property with the CVS beside it, according to Summit's latest application.

The six members of the township Planning Commission who were present voted unanimously to approve the preliminary land development plans. The developer still must meet several requirements, including measures to control storm water runoff, streetscape improvements, and a written promise that the inn would be preserved.

The developer will restore the exterior of the inn and provide four parking spaces for any potential tenant that moves into the building, said Lou Colagreco, a lawyer for Summit.

Summit first brought the project before the commission in January. But after residents learned that the developer planned to raze the inn, citizens and preservationists rallied to save the building, where Duke Ellington and other famous musicians performed, where residents attended wedding receptions and got together for family meals. More than 4,300 people have signed an online petition to save the onetime tavern along the first turnpike.

The developer said in February it would come up with a compromise.

"They've come back successful," said Victoria Snyder, chair of the Planning Commission. "We thank you so much for that."

The company went with a plan that had worked in Lower Providence Township, Montgomery County. There, the Audubon Inn, built in the 1750s, was included in the development plans for a CVS and kept on the corner of the property. The Audubon Inn houses law offices.

Plans for the CVS in Strafford still include the demolition of an addition put on the Covered Wagon about 50 years ago that housed several restaurants through the years and provided space for the Thos. Moser furniture store, the most recent tenant of the Covered Wagon building. Residents focused on saving the historic building.

Pattye Benson, president of the nonprofit Tredyffrin Historic Preservation Trust and leader of the campaign to save the inn, acknowledged that the developer and property owner would have been within their rights to demolish the historic building.

"To me, this represents really good development and how you can put a new building in and still save a historic building," she said.

mbond@philly.com

610-313-8207 @MichaelleBond