Construction Begins On North Idaho Wal-Mart Store, Nursing Home

This past week was a big one for construction in North Idaho.

Ground was broken for huge buildings to hold new businesses in Coeur d’Alene and Sandpoint that each will employ more than 100 people.

Easily the most talked about of the two is Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart’s new store actually is in the town of Ponderay northeast of Sandpoint. The 100,000-square-foot general merchandise market will be within a shopping cart’s roll of the community Kmart, which may be quaking in its 5-year-old foundation.

The Wal-Mart will employ about 185 people in its 36 departments, according to spokesman Keith Morris from Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

“Wal-Mart is founded with an everyday, low-price philosophy,” Morris said. “We don’t have specials, and we provide the best possible customer service.”

Down-home friendliness is stressed, with greeters at the store entrance. Often these special employees are senior citizens or handicapped people.

Ponderay’s store will be completed next summer at the intersection of state Highway 200 and the Kootenai cutoff over to U.S. Highway 95. Wal-Mart has agreed to help buy a traffic light for the intersection. No other Wal-Mart stores are planned for North Idaho, Morris said.

With 2,180 stores in six countries, Wal-Mart employs more than 620,000 people.

Taking advantage of the forecasted increased traffic load, several neighboring businesses likely will spring up in Ponderay.

The most definite is a Burger King near Wal-Mart. The restaurant will become the 10th or 11th Inland Northwest Burger King owned by Ed and Mike Hatter of Coeur d’Alene.

The Hatters opened their eighth place last weekend at Washington State University and will open their ninth Oct. 4 in the northwest corner of the I-90 and Pleasantview Road intersection in Post Falls. (If you want to see massive construction under way on numerous projects, take a drive out to this exit). The Post Falls Burger King celebrates a ‘50s theme in decor, including a ‘57 Chevy front in one wall.

Burger King No. 10 will be a race between the Ponderay and Liberty Lake stores, with the latter, said Hatter, awaiting the usual legal matter. All the new stores will seat about 84 customers, employ 40 to 50 people and have playgrounds. Construction on the 3,000-square-foot buildings takes about 60 days.

Most other new businesses near Wal-Mart will be the babies of developer Jim Fenton, who owns about 50 neighboring acres. Possibilities include a supermarket, a hardware store and other specialty retailing.

“We want the right tenant mix,” said Fenton, who came to North Idaho 30 years ago from California, where he owns “upscale” developments.

About 100 people will be employed at the Life Care Center of Coeur d’Alene, a 57,728-square-foot nursing home and adult day-care facility. Construction began this week on Aqua Avenue on the west side of U.S. Highway 95 in north Coeur d’Alene.

Included will be a 120-bed rest home facility with interior courtyards, a therapy unit, two dining rooms and a kitchen. Special features will include a 20-bed Alzheimer’s unit and the adult day-care unit.

The $5 million facility is one of 200 owned nationwide by Life Care Centers of America, which has its headquarters in Cleveland, Tenn. Owner Forrest Preston started the corporation in 1970.

Some tidbits:

All the dirt moving between Skate Plaza and U.S. Highway 95 in Coeur d’Alene is for a new parking lot. No new business is planned there.

The city of Coeur d’Alene made a super move in constructing the new skateboard park just north of Memorial Field.

Boasting several skateboard novelties, the facility attracts youngsters away from the previous boarding ground at Independence Point, where park visitors can get tripped up. Plenty of dads often are on hand to supervise their lads and gather a few scrapes themselves.

Construction has begun on the new Thompson Pass Road between Murray, Idaho, and Thompson Falls, Mont. Lengthy waits can be required as the pipeline is realigned.

Folks on the Montana side would be wise to open nearby Cooper Pass by scraping away the boulders.

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The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Nils Rosdahl The Spokesman-Review