Groundwork begins on Wal-Mart super center

Demolition and groundwork have begun at the site of Lynchburg’s second Wal-Mart super center.

The construction site, on Old Forest Road near the intersection with Forest Brook Road, was fenced off last week. George “Buster” Walker, former co-owner of the property where the retailer will build, said the work began Thursday with a meeting between city officials, developers and subcontractors.

J.A. Fielden, a contractor based in Knoxville, Tenn., is performing grading work for the Wal-Mart site as well as an adja-cent lot where Walker and his brother plan to build a small shopping center.

“Grading probably is going to take at least three months,” Walker said. “The plans are to have the building completed in 2010.”

According to J.A. Fielden’s Web site, the firm has worked on a number of Wal-Mart projects in Virginia, including some stores for Wal-Mart’s subsidiary Sam’s Club.

Contractors will have to tear down three buildings, including the former site of Cornerstone Community Church and a shopping center that once held several popular restaurants, before building the new superstore.

Last fall, Wal-Mart unveiled the design of the 189,000-square-foot store and announced a tentative construction calendar. Work was supposed to start in the spring this year and be completed in the spring of 2010. Walker said the date was pushed back because of “small things,” such as getting city approval for the project’s details.

Once completed, the store will employ about 350 people, according to previous announcements.

The shopping center that Walker will build will face the Wal-Mart store. It will have four store units, but no businesses have signed up to occupy the center, Walker said.

In addition to the Wal-Mart store and the Walkers’ shopping center, the construction project will bring traffic and water line improvements to the area.

Wal-Mart has pledged to provide $500,000 in improvements. The store is expected to bring an additional 6,400 vehicle trips per day to the neighborhood, according to a traffic study Wal-Mart commissioned.

The improvements include several additional turn lanes and two new stoplights in the area surrounding the Wal-Mart.

City Manager Kimball Payne said the city is preparing to start some water line improvements in the area of the new store. The city has started advertising bids for that work.

“There was a recognition that we should do it before we do the road work,” he said.

He said the road improvements probably would take place at the same time as the Wal-Mart construction.

In addition to the store, a planned expansion at Areva’s offices on Old Forest Road created the need for the infrastructure improvements.