Burtness considers building options
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ORFORDVILLE — Burtness Chevrolet is considering remodeling its downtown facility or building a new dealership in Orfordville's industrial park, a plan that could include selling its building to the village for a new library and municipal offices.
Burtness owner John Bowditch said the dealership is three to four months away from deciding what it will do.
"We haven't scheduled anything with the village, yet," he said. "We really don't know which direction GM wants us to go and which direction we want to go."
General Motors wants all Chevrolet dealer buildings to look the same, he said, so Burtness is looking at three options:
-- Remodeling the downtown facility.
-- Razing the downtown facility and building new at the same site.
-- Selling the downtown facility and building new in the village industrial park on Highway 11.
Bowditch said his intention "at this point" is to remain in Orfordville.
Village trustee Terry Morris said Burtness approached the village about buying the dealership's 9,000-square-foot facility at 303 E. Beloit St.
"No decisions have been made," he said. "They just approached us to see if we'd have any interest."
The village board doesn't know if it would want the Burtness building, he said.
"For us to make any kind of decisions, we'd have to find out what it's going to cost to purchase and what the cost of renovations would be," he said.
The board then would have to decide if the village could afford it, he said.
All village offices—from the police and clerk's offices to the library—need more space, he said. Storage and garage space are issues, he said, pointing out that village records are stored at the sewer plant.
The library board a few years ago bought land at 115 N. Center St. and has been raising money to build a new library at the site. Expanding other village offices was not on priority, Morris said.
"Everyone says it sounds like a good idea (until) reality sets in," he said.
The village has put the issue on hold until Burtness is ready to continue the discussion, he said.
Jan 1, 2012 at 5:51 a.m.
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It's all part of owning a franchise. You can bet that a Culver's store has to keep appearance standards, and can only serve products that other Culver's stores sell. You certainly would not be able to by an Arby's sandwich there. All this is spelled out in their franchise contracts.
The Boucher dealership group has been upgrading all of the stores lately. Separated the Saab store from Chevy in Racine, added a new service drive to Ford store in Kenosha, added Mitsubishi and new facade in Madison to their Lincoln dealer, new service drive to the Ford Lincoln Mazda in Janesville. All part of making the dealership more attractive to customers. There is also tax write-offs for improvements.
As far as Burtness on Orfordville is concerned, a new building would probably help their sales and increase their market share. Most operations see an increase in business traffic after a major remodel, or new facility. The building is probably at the end of it's expected life for a car dealership operation. The Burtness store in Whitewater is even older, and in worse condition
Dec 31, 2011 at 6:23 p.m.
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chell...yeah you think that Bowditch should just "donate" the property to the city but if a city wants to give tax credits to a business To bring a business to the city that's "corporate welfare."
Dec 30, 2011 at 1:30 p.m.
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Why doesn't Bowditch just donate the property to the village and build their new dealership in the industrial park?
Dec 30, 2011 at 9:19 a.m.
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The radio keeps talking about a NEW dealership in town. No not new they just put in a stand alone building(on the same property) I assume ordered to do so by CJD so Volkswagon isn't in the same building anymore.
Dec 30, 2011 at 9:17 a.m.
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CDJ want the same. The owners have to pay BIG bucks to comply. In return IF they meet some quotas they will get a refund ("rebate"llol).
Dec 30, 2011 at 7 a.m.
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"General Motors wants all Chevrolet dealer buildings to look the same"
GM should want all dealerships to make money. Added cost to the consumer for no consumer benefit.
Dec 29, 2011 at 10:49 p.m.
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Just my comments and thoughts, I for one am against such a purchase. Our sewer tratment plant is in need of an update, at the cost of which would double our current sewer bills each quarter for years to come.
The Library has spent thousands of dollars on property, building plans and lastly I do not want the money that I personally donated to the building project now going to the village.
Burtness has plenty of property downtown, plus there is a couple of houses next to their property for sale that I am sure could be sold to Burtness and make up for needed space.
Burtness I want you to stay in Orfordville, but not at the expense of it's tax payers.
This village does not have the money.
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