I can't believe this store and this building was approved for the center of Madison. It's a downgrade to our town.

It's also going to hurt local pharmacies. The landscape of Main Street is going to change as well

The architecture could of been much improved to compliment the charm of Madison. Despite the look it's still much better than a vacant lot.

Vacant lot is better than vacant stores

What an eyesore...very disappointing

Another "Main Street, USA" town going downhill, quickly.

Another "Main Street USA" town going downhill, rather quickly.

How do you all figure it's an eye sore ..... Looks better then a gas station

I'm surprised at the negative comments here. For years, that lot has been a vacant eyesore. Before that, it was a gas station. Now, the vacant lot is being replaced by a significant ratable (remember that next time you complain about taxes) that blends in fairly well in terms of building style and scale with the properties on Main St. between Prospect St. and Green Village Rd. How is this not a benefit for the town? Unless the nay-sayers are fronts for local pharmacies, in which case they should remember that when CVS had a Main St. store and Drug Fair had a Shunpike Rd. store, they didn't drive anyone out of business. So why worry about Walgreen's?

Fair, J.

J it doesn't blend in, thats the point. Its a large structure right up on the street. Maybe it will look better when completed but I don't believe it blends in. And yes it was a vacant lot but it would not always have been, a more modest and attractive structure could have been built.

Let me think for a second...the lesser of two evils? If this was 2009, it would have most likely been a bank.

No, I'm not a "front for a local pharmacy"; just thought it would be beneficial to the homeowners to keep the historical feature of a quaint town. Possibly it's the ARCHITECTURE. It would be fine in Florham Park, other towns that don't pride themselves on having a Main Street.

Please, people, let them finish the construction, then opine on its aesthetics. Of course it's an eyesore when covered in Tyvek and with the word "Walgreens" spraypainted on it. If you look at the last photo with the rendering of the completed building, it doesn't look bad at all. Some people just love to complain, just like people did about the new public safety complex. What do you want, the "Taj Mahal"?

If they planned on building it "right up on the street" they should have been required to make the sidewalks just as wide as the rest of downtown Main St. A 2-3 foot setback wouldn't have compromised the building at all, and it would serve to blend it in better if they want to laughingly call it the "Gateway to Madison".

The building looks good to me. I'm glad to see the central business district expanding and retail taking over automotive uses. It's all good for the town. I'd like to see the property next to it developed similarly.

Good Luck Madison, you're gonna need it.

I have no plans of going in there.

That intersection is already a pain. I don't even want to imagine what it will be like with cars coming and going out of that parking lot.

I'd like to know what is going in the front store, facing main street, with the doors opening to the intersection. Location, location, location. It doesn't get better than that. Relocate the Madison Starbucks and open a new Starbucks in Chatham? The current Madison location parking lot is a joke in the morning. They probably lose half their business to folk that go to turn in, then say, "forget that!"