Despite fog advisories in the area, work continued on Kentuckiana’s largest Walmart store, which is located on Salem’s east side.
In fact, workers installed sections of pre-constructed concrete walls on the Walmart storefront today.
Plans were announced in in 2014 for the 151,000 square foot building which is expected to open this year before the Holiday shopping season.
The Walmart Supercenter will be located on Kimball Drive, off Hackberry Street (State Road 56 East).
The company plans to employee between 300 and 400 people.
Rick Hayes of BRR Architecture said the firm is excited to be in the county and said the new store will be about the length of two football fields and will include an auto center, a garden center and a pharmacy that will have a drive up window.
Customers will enter the store off Kimball Drive where traffic lights are currently being installed at the intersection of Kimball Drive and Hackberry Street. A second set of lights will be placed at a second entrance across from Coral Street.
Randall Hake of Cedarwood Development, a national real estate company said construction would begin in late spring 2014, with an open date of fall 2015.
That was moved forward with much of the land development only beginning last summer during reconstruction of State Road 56, which continued up into October 2015.
Land development has begun for Murphy USA, a fuel station located along Hackberry Street, across the street from WSLM.
The fuel tank area has been excavated and gravel laid down last Friday for the road into the fuel station. In fact, INDOT added what they call a “pork chop” to the right turn lane on 56 last fall that will direct traffic into the area and also offer a right turn lane back out onto SR 56.
The 27 acre site will also leave room for additional retailers, restaurants and financial institutions.
There will be approx. 640 parking spaces in the parking lot.
