The Vision Center builds new location

HORSEHEADS — By next spring, The Vision Center will move to a new location that will give the growing eye-care practice more room and allow it to serve its patients better.

“We’re just growing and expanding and running out of space,” says practice owner Dr. John Plow.

The Vision Center has operated from 2,400 square feet of space at 3345 Chambers Road in the town of Big Flats, near Horseheads, since 2005. But it has run out of room as the practice size has tripled in the past six years, Plows says. He declined to provide specific patient numbers, but says the current location suffers from a shortage of exam rooms and even a lack of waiting-room space.

“We’ll have more space to do more things,” he says of the move to nearly 4,400 square feet of space currently under construction at 298 Colonial Drive, just around the corner from the existing office.

Plow purchased 2.3 acres and is building on half of the property. He hopes to lease the other half of the parcel out to others and is even willing to build to suit on the site if necessary. The eye-care building is a design-build project by Picarazzi Construction, Inc., located in Horseheads. Between purchasing the land and constructing the building, Plow is spending about $1 million. He declined to discuss the financing details of the project.

Along with being energy efficient, the new building will contain two exam rooms each for Plow and the other doctor on staff, Michael O’Connor. The new building will also have a large waiting area, as well as ample space for the necessary pre-exam testing.

The construction project broke ground in August, and Plow expects to move into the new building by March 1. He anticipates once the practice is in the new space, he’ll need to hire two new employees — a frame stylist and an optometric assistant. Currently, Plow employs 10 people.

“We want to be the premier eye-care center in the area,” he says of his growing practice, which draws patients from as far away as Bath and Mansfield, Pa.

Plow says with the new building, he’ll have space to continue building the practice, with an eye toward someday expanding to additional locations in areas where he has larger numbers of patients.

The practice opened in 2005 as a National Vision, Inc. chain location. Plow, who holds a doctorate in optometry from the State University of New York College of Optometry in Manhattan, purchased the practice in 2007 and renamed it The Vision Center. Plow is a member of the American Optometric Association, the New York State Optometric Association, and is current president of the Southern Tier Optometric Association, according to the practice’s website, www.thevisioncenterny.com.

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