WESTFIELD – The resurrection of iconic New England products seems to be the soup du jour as of late.
One need only look at the success of the Narragansett Brewing Company of Providence, Rhode Island, which has been brewing up a revitalized image in western New York for the past eight years, to know that retro-New England is in.
Another resurrection effort for a beloved regional icon is underway, as the Indian Motorcycle Company, formerly of Springfield, is looking to get back on the highway, with Westfield serving as the location for a new franchise on Southampton Road.
At a city council public hearing Thursday evening, Dennis Bolduc, owner of Bolduc Mechanical Services Inc. of Chester, announced that he has purchased the rights to a new western Massachusetts franchise from the company, and is looking to tear down the building which served as the former home of Lou’s Fuel Services to construct a new shop for Indian Motorcycles, new and old.
The City Council conducted a public hearing Thursday night on Bolduc’s petition for a motor vehicle sales special permit and a stormwater management plan. The council referred the petition to its License Committee.
“We’re looking to renovate the building, to take the storefront of (Lou’s) and put a showroom in,” Bolduc said Friday, a showroom that would be about 2,600 square feet. “We’re currently working on stormwater management and licensing for motor vehicle sales, which we will resolve and move forward.”
The hearing was held in the auditorium at South Middle School, and served as Bolduc’s formally submitting an application requesting a special permit under the city’s zoning ordinance to allow motor vehicle sales and water resource protection.
Bolduc said he hopes to get the project’s construction up as soon as possible, as a clause in his ownership with Indian states he must have the shop ready to go on January 1, 2014.
“I’m in a race against time.” he said.
The project will also serve to be a costly investment for Bolduc and his wife Florence, who believe they will spend around $1 million on the project. Bolduc said that his goal is to “bring a great business to Westfield.”
Bolduc believes the shop’s location, combined with both his passion for bikes and the legacy of the longtime Springfield-based Indian Motorcycle Company, will make the shop a profitable fixture on the city’s north side.
“We’re going to be a true enthusiast dealer,” said Bolduc, whose grandfather worked for the company a hundred years ago.
Bolduc is a third generation Indian Motorcycle rider and “my daughter rides one, too,” he said.
Having been involved with motorsports for 40 years, Bolduc is aware of the rich tradition of the company, and seeks to continue that company’s reincarnation in the Whip City.
“They have the backing of Polaris,” said Bolduc of Indian. “They make one heckuva motorcycle.”
When asked of his reasoning for selecting 962 Southampton Road as the future home for this dealership, Bolduc listed three reasons that are central to his vision for Westfield’s future.
“The town, the atmosphere, and the business climate,” he said. “Westfield is a natural crossroads of Interstates 90 and 91, and at the foot of the Berkshires, which is great riding country.”
Bolduc hopes that his bringing the dealership to Westfield will be followed by BMS Inc. packing up and relocating to Westfield, as well, from Chester.
“If I can bring the dealership initially, I would like to bring my business, too,” said Bolduc, before adding that the two businesses would create about 26 jobs, with six of those jobs coming from the Indian shop.
All this is music to the ears of City Councilor John Beltrandi III, the chairman of the council’s license committee.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “Indian is a local brand. Resurrecting and marketing it in Westfield, building on a vacant site, I don’t think there is a negative.”
Bolduc believes the return of a local legend to a city on the rise is exciting and something that, as it turns out, wouldn’t be possible elsewhere in the region.
“We had a lot of pressure to bring it to Springfield, but we just couldn’t do it,” he said. “But we will be an enthusiast dealer in Westfield, because we ride and love motorcycles. We’re very excited and happy to be bringing this here.”
Several City Council members raised issued pertaining to protecting the Barnes Aquifer that provides drinking water to Westfield, Southampton, Holyoke and Easthampton. The Barnes Aquifer Protection Advisory Committee, which represents the interests of those four communities, raised issues about fueling and doing repair work at the 962 Southampton Road location.
At-large Councilor John J. Beltrandi III, the chairman of the License Committee, said that the Planning Board would review and address those issues during the site plan process.
“Typically the (Planning) Board requires protection such as oil-water separators,” Beltrandi said.
