Winchester growth sparks questions and curiosity

Welcome to Around Town, my new col­umn about peo­ple, places, and hap­pen­ings in Winchester and Clark County. In this and future edi­tions, I’ll share a vari­ety of obser­va­tions and reflec­tions on our com­mu­ni­ty. Sometimes the col­umn will focus on one theme, and some­times it will be more of a pot­pour­ri of items. This first install­ment falls into the lat­ter category.

Observant read­ers have no doubt noticed the buzz around cur­rent and future con­struc­tion projects in town. These are excit­ing times for peo­ple who want to see Winchester grow — and less excit­ing for those who would rather pre­serve green space.

I don’t take sides in that debate because I believe smart, respon­si­ble growth can coex­ist with pre­serv­ing the countryside’s rur­al beau­ty. I’ll prob­a­bly write more about it in future columns, but today I thought I’d run through what we know so far about what may be com­ing next.

I tend to focus most of my writ­ing on Winchester’s down­town revival and will con­tin­ue to do so. But most of the cur­rent devel­op­ment buzz cen­ters on Bypass Rd and the I‑64 exits. So let’s jump in.

The bypass is hoppin’

By now, it’s no secret that both Aldi and Publix are plan­ning to open new super­mar­kets in our fair city. Unfortunately for peo­ple who live down­town or on the east side, both stores will be on Bypass Road, which already has a Kroger and a Walmart Supercenter.

Aldi will open in Winchester Plaza in the space for­mer­ly occu­pied by Bargain Hunt. Work has begun on updates to the build­ing, which appears to be a near-total rebuild. I hear the store is expect­ed to open this sum­mer. With Cricket Wireless mov­ing across the bypass into the plaza, Winchester’s old­est major shop­ping cen­ter will be ful­ly occu­pied for the first time in decades. It’s nice to see the park­ing lot full of cars again.

Work is under­way to refit the old Frisch’s restau­rant, which closed in December 2024. The new restau­rant will be a Pepper’s Mexican Grill, which has five oth­er loca­tions in Kentucky. So much for the Winchester Diner, I guess. By my rough count, this would make it Winchester’s 12^th restau­rant offer­ing Mexican or Latin fare.

I haven’t heard any recent updates on the devel­op­ment planned for the space on Bypass Road next to the Forest Service offices. The lot was lev­eled and filled with grav­el months ago, but there has been no recent activ­i­ty. The orig­i­nal plan called for a mat­tress store and — I’m not jok­ing — a dri­ve-thru cof­fee shop. There are already four dri­ve-thru cof­fee shops with­in a mile of one anoth­er along that stretch. Five years ago, there was one.

I under­stand the pro­posed trav­el cen­ter and truck stop approved for Paris Road at Exit 96 is still in the works. Some hur­dles remain to be cleared, but it appears the devel­op­ment, which will include two or three restau­rants, will move for­ward. Many peo­ple in Royal Oaks don’t seem hap­py about it, but oth­ers on the east side are excit­ed to final­ly see new devel­op­ment in the neighborhood.

Turning back to Publix, there has been con­sid­er­able con­tro­ver­sy over the sale of the prop­er­ty at the inter­sec­tion of Bypass Road and Colby Road. Previously home to a walk­ing trail and owned by the Greater Clark Foundation, it will soon house Winchester’s newest major shop­ping cen­ter, to be known as Winchester Village. In addi­tion to Publix, the devel­op­ment will include a strip mall with up to nine busi­ness­es, as well as five out­parcels. It will have two entrances: one on Colby Road and one on the bypass, across from Walgreens.

In the com­ing weeks, I plan to write more about this devel­op­ment and share my thoughts on the land sale and the resul­tant loss of the Winchester Traveling Trail.

A devel­op­er plans to tear down the old Rite Aid phar­ma­cy on Pedro Way and rede­vel­op the prop­er­ty. Under the devel­op­ment plan, the lot would be split into two; the Planning Commission is set to vote on it on June 2. A bank would occu­py one lot, while plans for the oth­er have not yet been announced.

I sug­gest a dri­ve-thru Mexican cof­fee shop. What do you think?