Work has begun on an overgrown lot with a condemned house on Elden Street across from the Kmart Shopping Center.
Once completed, the project will house a 57,000-square-foot Safeway and another 8,400 square feet of retail space.
"We expect to be open by the summer of 2004," said Craig Muckle, public affairs manager for Safeway's eastern region. "Actual construction, such as laying the pads, is about 30 to 60 days away."
Muckle said, at the moment, Safeway is the developer of the project, but the grocery chain will most likely hand over the site to a property manager for the day-to-day operations and the leasing of the retail space.
The grocery store, said Muckle, will employ somewhere between 150 to 175 people once completed and will most likely have hours of operation between 6 a.m. and midnight, which is typical for all Safeways.