Walmart officials will finally open the doors to their new Fergus location on Nov. 16, nearly two years after the first site plan application was filed with Centre Wellington Township.
Construction of the 95,000-square-foot, $20-million building on the west side of St. David Street North (Highway 6) began last summer, but was halted last December to remove contaminated soil found on the site.
Walmart officials said the amount of contamination was not significant, and Christine Cote, senior land development manager with Smart Centres, told the Advertiser earlier this year the soil problems were nothing new to the company in charge of building the centre for the American retail giant.
“We encounter issues on many of our sites as we deal with them,” Cote said in January. “We’re dealing with them on a day to day basis – and we expect we’ll be back up and running shortly.”
However, officials decided to shut down building activity until this spring to avoid winter construction premiums.
The Fergus Walmart is classified as a “superstore,” which according to the Walmart website means it will offer a “full range of products, including food, consumables, general merchandise and apparel.”
The store should be similar to the one at the north end of Guelph – including a drug store – but on a smaller scale, although store manager Steve Vial did not return calls by press time to confirm store details and hours.
It is clear Walmart employees remain busy trying to get the store ready for a grand opening ceremony set for 7am on Nov. 16.
It is expected the store will open with regular hours following the grand opening. The store will employ dozens of associates and, according to the Walmart website, is currently looking to hire a cashier and “front end manager.”
The initial site plan application for the Fergus Walmart was submitted by Smart Centres on Jan. 19, 2011.
Because the site was already zoned for the proposed use, the application did not require a zone change – it was for site plan approval only.
