Scituate Harbor's Grocery and Bandstand Are Both Waiting on 2027

"Star Market will be opening the renovated space in September." That line is in the minutes of the April 1, 2026 Waterways Commission meeting, two weeks before Village Market closed its doors at 71 Front Street.

September came and went. Posters in the old Village Market windows now say Star Market will open in 2027.

The bandstand followed the same path. In May the town expected construction of a new Harbor gazebo to begin in November 2026. By late summer the project had gone back out to bid, and the deadline that matters now falls in late May 2027.

So the Harbor's two most familiar Front Street fixtures are both running on a 2027 clock, and both clocks have already moved once. Neither project has a published opening or start date right now. What we have is window signage and a contract deadline. In practice, this winter in the Harbor will look a lot like this summer did: no grocery store at the foot of Front Street and no permanent bandstand by the water.

How the dates moved

This is what was said, when, and where each project stands as of early October 2026.

Neither of the original dates was a promise. One was a remark in a commission meeting and the other was an estimate in a weekly town update. Still, a lot of people in town were working from those dates, and that's why the gap feels longer than it looked in April.

What the Star Market permits say about the wait

When Village Market announced its closing, the property owner, Agora Village Market LLC, said the building and property needed "significant investment" to stay a place people want to shop. Its last day was Wednesday, April 15.

The work since then has gone into the building's systems more than its look. Wicked Local's July 16 report cited Scituate Community Television on refrigeration and HVAC upgrades. Scituate's building commissioner, Clark Brewer, described the permits this way:

"quite a few energy code upgrades and services, and all new equipment."

He added, "I think it will remain pretty much like it is. There may be a few interior changes."

That helps explain what you see walking by. The outside of 71 Front Street may not look very different from one month to the next, because most of the permitted work is inside. Refrigeration, mechanical systems and energy-code upgrades take time without making much of a show from the sidewalk.

A spokesperson for Shaw's and Star Market, Teresa Edington, said in a statement that the store "will be located in downtown Scituate" and will feature "local product offerings." Star Market is part of Albertsons Companies, and the closest existing Star Market is in Marshfield.

One detail matters to anyone who used to pick up a bottle on the way home. Village Market sold beer and wine. As of the July report, the Select Board's office confirmed that Star Market had not applied for a beer and wine license. That application would go before the Select Board, so a license request on a future agenda would be one of the clearer public signs that the opening is getting close.

I haven't found any update on the store's timing after July. The town's late-summer and early-fall administrator updates don't list a date. For now the honest answer is still "2027," with no month attached.

The bandstand's real date is a deadline

The old Harbor bandstand came down in March 2026. For the summer concert series, the town put up a temporary staging platform. Its May 11 update said that platform would stay for the full 2026 season, that the Scituate Harbor Gazebo project had gone out to bid, and that construction was expected to start in November 2026.

By the August 17 update, the bid list included "Bandstand Construction (2nd offering)," due at 9:30 a.m. on September 22, 2026. The town's legal notice for the ADA-accessible bandstand adds the two details that best describe the schedule now:

• Completion deadline: construction "must be completed by May 28, 2027."
• Method: the structure "can be completed off-site and assembled on-site."

The off-site option means the November start date matters less than it seemed in May. A bandstand built in a shop over the winter and assembled at the Harbor in spring could still meet a late-May deadline, which falls just before the season the 2026 concert series ran in. The notice also says the Town Administrator can accept or reject any bid, so the bid opening on September 22 didn't settle the question by itself.

As of this writing, I haven't found a published award, contractor or price. The September 22 Select Board agenda doesn't include a bandstand award. Until a contract is announced, the safest summary is that the town wants a new, accessible bandstand in place by the end of May 2027 and hasn't yet said publicly who will build it.

Groceries in the meantime

The town discussed this gap before Village Market even closed, mainly with boaters in mind. At the April 1 Waterways Commission meeting, a commission member asked whether boaters who usually grab groceries at the Harbor in summer would be told about the closing. The harbormaster said he could look into posting information on Dockwa about Harbor shops within walking distance, online ordering, or the GATRA shuttle up to Shaw's.

Those suggestions still cover the basic options for anyone near the Harbor this winter:

1. Shaw's in Cohasset is at 739 Chief Justice Cushing Hwy, and its store page lists daily hours.
2. GATRA GO Seacoast offers on-demand, same-day rides in Scituate, booked by app or phone. GATRA's service page has the booking details.
3. The Star Market in Marshfield is the nearest existing store of the brand that's coming to Front Street.

For anyone who misses Village Market specifically, it still runs stores in Hull and Roslindale.

Front Street this fall, as it is

A Harbor without a grocery store or a bandstand still has a full October calendar. Several events on it are close to the water or within a short walk. Listings sometimes change, so check the organizer's page before you go.

• Tonight, October 8, 5 to 8 p.m.: Untold Brewing is listed as hosting a community book swap that benefits the Scituate Library Foundation. Book drop-off was listed as opening October 5.
• October 10, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Appleton Field's open house is listed with garden tours, children's crafts and refreshments, with October 11 as the rain date.
• October 25, 5 p.m.: The Scituate Historical Society's free Halloween bell concert at Lawson Tower, behind 330 First Parish Road.
• October 31, 4 to 5:30 p.m.: Halloween in the Harbor is listed for trick-or-treating along Front Street, organized by the Scituate Harbor Business Association. The listing doesn't show a year, so confirm the time closer to the date.

If you bike to the Harbor, the town added a bicycle repair station this year near the new kiosk, along with a second one in North Scituate.

Trick-or-treaters on Front Street this year will walk past the empty storefront at 71 and an open spot where the bandstand stood. The Business Association's event doesn't need either one.

What would move the clock next

Both projects go through public channels, so the next real news will probably show up in town documents before it shows up on a sign. A bandstand contract award would appear in a Town Administrator update or on a Select Board agenda. A Star Market beer and wine license application would go to the Select Board, and an opening month would most likely come from the company. Until one of those appears, the dates to plan around are "2027" for the grocery store and May 28, 2027 for the bandstand.

If you live near the Harbor and want to know how changes on Front Street fit into the bigger picture for your street or your plans, I'm happy to talk it through with no pressure. I keep an eye on these town updates anyway. Reach out through William Tierney, and let's connect.