The AAA building at 2276 Whitney Ave. is closed as of this week and will soon no longer be standing as it faces the wrecking ball in the coming weeks.
AAA Southern New England plans to replace the half-century-old building with a modern 7,000-square foot facility, according to company officials.
According to a company release, the new one-floor, ergonomically designed facility will feature a two-story façade bordering Whitney Avenue and will accommodate 45 Hamden branch employees and support personnel.
Construction will begin soon after the demolition and continue through winter and spring of 2013. The company expects to re-open next summer.
In the meantime, the branch will be temporarily housed in a nearby AAA-owned facility at 35 Worth Ave. where the company has maintained an emergency road services dispatch center. That facility opens today.
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The Whitney Avenue building was built in 1964 as the headquarters of AAA Connecticut Motor Club. In June, 2008 the club merged with AAA Southern New England, an auto club serving more than 3.5 million members in Connecticut’s Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield Counties; Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey.
The new building will be one of the first buildings in Hamden to comply with the town’s new planning and zoning ordinances, says Lloyd Albert, AAA SNE’s Senior Vice President of Public and Government Affairs.
“We decided to rebuild the office on the existing site because we’re committed to Hamden,” he said. “By maintaining our current location right off Route 15, the new office will continue to provide easy access to our members and an expanded footprint in which to serve members. We couldn’t be happier about our decision to reinvest in a community where our membership base has been loyal and continues to grow.”
Eckman & Arp Architects of Warwick, R.I. designed the new building. Milone and MacBroom of Cheshire is the company providing engineering support for the project.
