Developers of Ignacio's new grocery store presented plans to town trustees Wednesday evening.
The new store will be called the Farmers Fresh Market. Architect Tim Flanagan showed the site plan and drawings of what the new building will look like.
The Ignacio Shur Valu closed in June after the New Mexico operator unexpectedly pulled out. Area residents Ezra and Brook Lee and Cindy Swanemyr announced plans to demolish the old building and replace it. Brook Lee told the Times in early June that they hoped to open the new store by the end of this year.
Project manager Mark Crom told the Times yesterday that it probably will be spring 2015. "It's just a guess right now. I don't even have blueprints right now," he said.
Plans for the store have been reviewed by the town planning commission and meet or exceed requirements in the town code, Town Manager Lee San Miguel said.
Flanagan said the old store and the SUCAP building just to the north will be demolished. The new store will fill both spaces. The northeast corner will be at an angle, with a new entrance there in addition to front and back entrances in the same places as before.
There will be a deli inside the new entrance, with inside seating, he said. There might be some outside seating as well. They have plans to plant a few trees outside the new entrance.
The street side of the building will be pulled back several feet for a nine-foot wide sidewalk, he said. The facade will be stucco the same color as the adjacent Centerpoint building, and natural stone in some places for accent.
The store will have windows for natural light, and possibly solar tubes, which channel natural light from above to the building interior.
"We're trying to do things along sustainable lines," Flanagan said. He noted the store will include a pharmacy.
"We like the 'farmers market' name," Brook Lee told trustees. "Farmers Fresh Market encompasses everything we want to do."
Ezra Lee added that they hope to offer locally grown meats as well as produce.
Crom said of the new store, "It will be nice, definitely an improvement."
The next step is asbestos removal, Crom said. "I'll probably be gathering those bids this week or next and prepare for the abatement process," he said. Actual demolition might start around Oct. 1, he said.
The existing store is 17,714 square feet, and the SUCAP building is 1,928 square feet for a total of 19,642 square feet. The new store will total 21,974 square feet. Based on the additional space, the developers will pay town park, police, and street impact fees totaling $4,831.91.
Trustees approved the plans as presented, but not before audience member Lana Jo Chapin criticized the planning commission review for not including the downtown design review committee in the process.
"I'm totally in favor of the grocery store and the way it looks," she said. "I'm not speaking against it when I say I'm disappointed that the process in the code isn't being followed. It says the downtown design review committee will sit in on the review." If things in the code aren't going to be followed, get rid of them, she said.
