White City Shopping Center
White City Shopping Center in Shrewsbury was in desperate need of a facelift as customers and tenants began finding their way to new shopping centers. The owners of the shopping center came up with a solution: they hired Construction Coordinators, Inc. (CCI) to give the façade an extensive renovation.
The original layout of the shopping center allowed for a long line of stores, each storefront blending into the next. CCI converted the exterior in a village-style façade, in which storefronts are at varied indentations into the building—in essence, CCI gave the shopping center more bumps and valleys to create variation. This project, however, was complicated by a 75 foot long concrete beam embedded in the façade during its initial construction. The slab had to be broken into parts, removed by crane, and carried away by a fleet of trucks. This intense construction work was hindered by the fact that CCI could only work during the hours of 10 P.M. to 5 A.M., because the shopping center was open during the remaining hours. Fortunately, CCI completed the project without any safety issues and without interrupting the operation of the shopping center. The new façade included stucco cornice, hardy plank sign bands, new glass storefronts and stone column surrounds, in addition to the restructuring of the storefronts into a village-style layout.
The White City Shopping Center now is home to new tenants including Five Guys Burgers and Fries, and the renovation has brought new business to the existing tenants—in all, the project was a big success.