Bill May

The city’s newest councilman is not a fan of the appearance of the planned Rite Aid pharmacy in Main Street.

“It looks like something that should be in a strip mall, not in downtown Butler,” Bill May told the other members of council Tuesday night.

May, a lifelong resident of the city and a town historian, said he is angry that the new Rite Aid store will not have a historic appearance.

“This follows a string of mistakes the city has made in the past 50 years,” May said. “I’m extremely disappointed in the design of the building.”

His biggest issue is the portion of the building facing Main Street will be a mostly windowless brick wall.

The entrance will face the corner of Cunningham and Main streets. The section of the building that will stretch from the Huntington Bank building to the entrance is mostly brown brick, similar in color to the current Rite Aid with a couple of small windows, according to plans May has of the building.

“There’s no display window at all,” he said. “It does nothing to attract downtown business.”

The pharmacy is part of the Centre City project that also will bring a Marriott Springhill Suites hotel and a 225-lot parking garage to downtown.

Work on these three projects is to get under way this year.

The other members of council said they were not part of the design process for the building, and that they have not seen the final renderings.

A public meeting was held for the project in September while blueprints of the building have been in the zoning office since then.

May, who was appointed to council last month after former councilman Lisa Guard resigned, was particularly critical of the city redevelopment authority for its involvement with the design process.

“The city redevelopment authority has done more damage to this town than any one person,” he said of its past actions with downtown buildings.

May said he has attempted to talk to Paul Dunn, the project manager, for colored renderings of the building, but has not received a response.

Mayor Tom Donaldson said he agreed with May’s stand, but said it is likely too late to change the plans.

“It looks like we’re stuck with it,” Donaldson said. “It looks like they’ll be breaking ground within a couple weeks.”

May, too, said the city likely will have to live with the appearance of the building.

“It’s just a missed opportunity,” he said.

Donaldson, who also took office this year, said he’d like to see a historic district ordinance instituted soon to prevent similar issues from arising again.