LOCKPORT – Hibbard’s Custard, a Lewiston ice cream tradition for 75 years, is planning two Lockport-area locations.
James Hibbard, co-owner of the family-run business, went before the Town of Lockport Planning Board on Tuesday to seek approval for the conversion of an abandoned former used-car dealership at Lake Avenue and Wicks Road in Wrights Corners into a custard stand that will sell the same flavors as those offered at the original Lewiston location.
Hibbard said his nephew Michael has obtained space at the former Urban Sports Park on South Transit Road in Pendleton for a baseball-themed ice cream stand to be called “The Dugout,” aimed at kids who play on the fields there.
Hibbard said no town approval was needed for the Pendleton stand, which probably will open before the one in Wrights Corners. He needs a special-use permit from Lockport authorities for the Lake Avenue site, and the board Tuesday scheduled a public hearing for June 3.
The 480-square-foot former car dealership building already is being renovated. Hibbard said he probably will open by the Independence Day weekend, although he is hoping for sometime in June.
“It’s a shame it’s been idle as long as it has been. It’s become an eyesore,” Hibbard said.
His grandfather, who founded the custard business in 1939, had a Wrights Corners location in the 1950s and 1960s, where Howell Motors Ford now stands.
The Planning Board questioned the plan because it offers only 15 parking spaces. Town Planner Andrew C. Reilly wondered if people might end up parking at the Wrights Corners Fire Company next door and walking to get custard. The plan, which includes no inside seating, is to be revised before the June 3 hearing.
The board also set a May 20 public hearing on a special-use permit for an 18-hole outdoor miniature golf course to be built next to Allie Brandt’s Bowling Lanes on Lincoln Avenue by the lanes’ owners, Borowski Enterprises.
“We’re hoping for a July 1 opening,” said Jeanine Craddock, Allie Brandt’s manager. The course will be open nightly until about 10 from May to September.
Craddock said the mini-golf course, to be built on a 247-by-70-foot space on the west side of the bowling center, will enable her to keep some of the bowling staff on the payroll during the summer, when bowling participation slumps.
Skateland, a short distance down Lincoln Avenue, announced Monday it is closing this weekend, and it also offered miniature golf. Craddock said she’s not worried about that.
“We get a lot of kids in the building. We turn a good profit,” she said.
Timothy Arlington of Apex Contracting, who presented the plan, said the plan won’t interfere with any of the baseball diamonds that adjoin the bowling center. No additional parking is proposed.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com
James Hibbard, co-owner of the family-run business, went before the Town of Lockport Planning Board on Tuesday to seek approval for the conversion of an abandoned former used-car dealership at Lake Avenue and Wicks Road in Wrights Corners into a custard stand that will sell the same flavors as those offered at the original Lewiston location.
Hibbard said his nephew Michael has obtained space at the former Urban Sports Park on South Transit Road in Pendleton for a baseball-themed ice cream stand to be called “The Dugout,” aimed at kids who play on the fields there.
Hibbard said no town approval was needed for the Pendleton stand, which probably will open before the one in Wrights Corners. He needs a special-use permit from Lockport authorities for the Lake Avenue site, and the board Tuesday scheduled a public hearing for June 3.
The 480-square-foot former car dealership building already is being renovated. Hibbard said he probably will open by the Independence Day weekend, although he is hoping for sometime in June.
“It’s a shame it’s been idle as long as it has been. It’s become an eyesore,” Hibbard said.
His grandfather, who founded the custard business in 1939, had a Wrights Corners location in the 1950s and 1960s, where Howell Motors Ford now stands.
The Planning Board questioned the plan because it offers only 15 parking spaces. Town Planner Andrew C. Reilly wondered if people might end up parking at the Wrights Corners Fire Company next door and walking to get custard. The plan, which includes no inside seating, is to be revised before the June 3 hearing.
The board also set a May 20 public hearing on a special-use permit for an 18-hole outdoor miniature golf course to be built next to Allie Brandt’s Bowling Lanes on Lincoln Avenue by the lanes’ owners, Borowski Enterprises.
“We’re hoping for a July 1 opening,” said Jeanine Craddock, Allie Brandt’s manager. The course will be open nightly until about 10 from May to September.
Craddock said the mini-golf course, to be built on a 247-by-70-foot space on the west side of the bowling center, will enable her to keep some of the bowling staff on the payroll during the summer, when bowling participation slumps.
Skateland, a short distance down Lincoln Avenue, announced Monday it is closing this weekend, and it also offered miniature golf. Craddock said she’s not worried about that.
“We get a lot of kids in the building. We turn a good profit,” she said.
Timothy Arlington of Apex Contracting, who presented the plan, said the plan won’t interfere with any of the baseball diamonds that adjoin the bowling center. No additional parking is proposed.
email: tprohaska@buffnews.com