Plans to open a coin-operated laundromat at 677 Hudson Ave. have fallen through, according to village Mayor Rick Nelson.
The Board of Trustee had awarded a special use permit in May to John Bove, who presented plans for the laundromat at the former Stewart’s store near the Mobil gas station and car wash. A public hearing was held and the board completed an environmental review before approving the permit.
But Mayor Nelson said Bove did not buy the property, and instead, “he wants to focus more on his apartment project on Brickyard Road.”
“It may be a blessing since we would like to see a café at that location for Blockhouse visitors and other tourists,” Nelson said.
The Town of Stilwater, which oversees the Stillwater Blockhouse on Hudson Avenue, received grant money and is looking into adding bathrooms to the historic facility. The town has begun the preliminary planning process, investigating water and sewer connections there.
In his laundromat presentation, Bove told Trustees he planned to renovate the interior of the building so he would have space to install 11 automatic washing machines of various sizes (small, medium and large), and 12 clothes driers. The business would have been open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., with the doors automatically unlocking and locking at those times, he said.
Bove owns another laundromat in the Cambridge area. Stillwater does not have a laundromat, with the closest being in neighboring Mechanicville.