New Car Wash Opening at Landmark Site in Simsbury

Two area businessmen plan to open a car wash on a site where one had existed for more than 40 years. 

Valley Car Wash operated in West Simsbury from the late 1960s until just two years ago. Now crews are renovating the Route 44 building near the Canton and Avon town lines where Tunji Somma and Ken Gallup plan to operate CT Auto Spa.

“It’s exciting; It’s been a landmark,” said Somma, a West Hartford resident. 

“It had really good bones,” Somma added. “It just needed some some updating.”

Upgrades will include more modern and efficient equipment, restrooms, an office area and more.

The new business will retain and modernize the 100-foot wash tunnel it plans to operate between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Access lanes will feature pay stations with highly automated systems, allowing people to swipe credit cards or pay by cash. An RFID reader will even recognize returning users and speed up the process.  

The self-serve spray area will go but a modern, touchless system with its own access lane will be available on a 24-hour, seven-day a week basis. 

The business will also feature a detail bay and a free vacuum area.

Somma said the business has several advantages that will help it keep prices very competitive.

Those include the highly automated systems, adequate infrastructure and will provide efficient service, owners said. A new service driveway to the area behind Staples and and provide access to and from Route 167. 

The business is already developing a relationship with many area auto dealers and hopes to open by late fall, Somma said. 

Former Valley Car wash owner John S. Hill said he feels there will always be a market for large, full-service washes like Russell Speeders in Avon but feels there is a great niche for an express business. 

"He's got a lot of good ideas," Hill said. "I think they're going to do very well."