BEDFORD – The ongoing goal to turn the dwindling Bedford Mall on South River Road into a new and improved power center is officially on its way, following the Planning Board’s unanimous approval of Emmes Asset Management’s redevelopment plan Monday, Aug. 16.

“I’m very happy to see that the mall is making an investment, certainly given the economic times we’re in,” Planning Director Rick Sawyer said. “It’s very exciting to see that they’re making that reinvestment into the property.”

The approved project, estimated to be an 18-month effort, will demolish part of the existing mall and reduce the property by about 27,000 square feet to leave room for 267,746 square feet of to-be-constructed retail space.

The project will likely break ground in September, Sawyer said.

“Because it is a redevelopment and they need to keep parts of it open, it will be somewhat of a rolling project in three or four phases with the first building being ready sometime in the late spring, early summer,” Sawyer said. “Kohl’s is on a schedule to be opened next October 2011, and the remaining pieces could be shortly after that.”

While Bob’s Stores and Michael’s School of Hair Design and Esthetics plan to continue operating on their current site, Marshall’s will transfer over to the former Linens ’N Things location. Staples, which will also stay on at the planned power center, will move to a new row of stores slated to occupy the northern side of the mall.

The architectural and material changes made to the 90,464-square-foot Kohl’s, which will lay at the center of the new shopping complex, were major adjustments warranting Planning Board approval.

“They made some better presentations on how the Kohl’s project would go that relieved concerns about how it would be built,” Sawyer said. “They showed some major changes to the clock tower, which I think the board felt really improved the project. The previous Kohl’s tower was basically a metal framed, abstract clock tower, and what they came back with was more of a conventional, brick-faced tower ejection with a simple clock in it, much more integrated with the materials that are being used throughout the rest of the project.”

Town Manager Russ Marcoux said he was excited about what he saw in the latest proposal.

“I think that every community has kind of its signature, and Bedford is an old community, incorporated in the 1700s, that has kind of a colonial atmosphere, and that’s kind of what we wanted,” Marcoux said.

“I’m very pleased. I think that the final product of what it’s going to look like is really in good taste, and it really fits in with what we’ve asked them to do, from the clock tower in the center, all the way down to the front of Kohl’s.”

Along with the approval, the Planning Board has 12 additional conditions on the project as Emmes moves forward with construction – typical for any project, and mostly technical in nature, Sawyer said.

Emmes will also have to return to the Planning Board for approval on the design for whatever tenant will go into the southwest corner of the property designated for a fast-food restaurant. Emmes is currently looking for a tenant.

Now that the revamped Bedford Mall is underway, Marcoux said he sees plenty of other development opportunities stirring in Bedford’s future.

“I think it’s going to spur other activity,” Marcoux said. “We’ve got the Macy’s project put on hold because of the economy, but this is right in the middle, or on the end, and I think it’s really going to spur development more in that area, and it speaks a lot about South River Road.

“I’m very happy about it. … It’s going to bring a lot of excitement to that area that’s been kind of dormant for a while.”

Maryalice Gill can be reached at 594-6490 or mgill@nashuatelegraph.com.